Ability to Tame
by Wolf of the Light
Summary: Dawn's never caught a Pokemon of her own. So when Topaz, a shiny Charizard she'd known since childhood, is hurt, she hopes to help it, but all it does is slip away to heal. A major twist to the movie How To Train Your Dragon. Ikarishipping, eventual Contestshipping/OldRivalshipping/Pokeshipping
1. BOOK ONE: The Crash

**A/N**: All right. This is going to take a different tone to what I usually write. Because I have been inspired! Before school got out for the summer, our seventh period class was watching How to Train Your Dragon for the second time (I'm not even close to complaining) and so I got an idea: Why not write a story similar to Hiccup's and Toothless'? So this is what the outcome is so far. Enjoy :D

**Edit**: I made use of the spell check this time. It didn't seem to work correctly when I first posted this. Huzzah at my corrections!

* * *

><p>Dawn stared out the window, watching as wild and tame Dragonite, Charizard, Flygon, Salamance, and even the occasional Altaria fly outside her window in peaceful harmony with each other. Sighing was all she seemed to do at the moment as she slid away from her window to lay on her side on the floor. In her town, it was an honored tradition to capture one of the dragon-like Pokémon that flew about during the day and evenings by the age of twelve. But Dawn was different.<p>

Dawn felt that she couldn't handle the responsibility it took to care for a Pokémon as large as a Dragonite or Charizard. She was barely able to feed and give water to her mother's Glameow when she wasn't day dreaming about the Pokémon outside. Even at the age of seven, Dawn knew that she wanted to tame one of the wild flying animals that took residence in the woods surrounding her little town. But they'd only come to make their nests recently, all of them flying in a group to land and make their homes about fifteen or twenty years ago. She was still able to remember when she'd used to play with the Charmander and Trapinch that crept away from their mothers like the disobedient children they were.

But that was years ago, although sometimes she could see the Flygon with the nicked antennae and the shiny black Charizard, its light yellow skin gone from evolution, fly by her house and glance at her window, like they still wanted to play with her like those years ago when they'd all been children.

The blunette was brought back from her day dreams by her mother calling her downstairs so she could get dinner started. With a last will full glance over her shoulder, she called an answer to her mother and went scurrying down the stairs to feed Glameow.

The cat was starting to get fat, Dawn noticed as she got the Pokémon food from the cupboard beneath the sink to pour in a bowl labelled "Glammy" on the side. "Mom, Glammy's starting to show some weight gain, isn't she?"

Johanna looked up from her place at the stove to glance at their cat. Her brow furrowed. "Hm, I think she's been going to see that wild Glameow a lot these days. We may have kittens soon if she gets any bigger."

Thoughts of baby Glameow kittens running around the house made Dawn filled with excitement. She'd be more motivated to take care of Glammy if she needed to care for her babies as well. "Oh wow, Mom! Do you think we can keep them when she has them?"

Her mother frowned once more. "Well …" She made the mistake of looking at her daughter then. She became trapped by Dawn's puppy dog look, her big blue eyes filling with tears and her lower lip jutting out slighty. Johanna sighed. "All right, we can keep them."

Dawn jumped for joy.

"_But_," Johanna continued. Dawn froze. "You _have_ to take care of them. Understand?"

Dawn saluted her mother as if she were a superior officer. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

Johanna smiled at her cheeky daughter. "Yes, yes. Now go. I think Barry was looking for you."

"Ooh! Thanks for reminding me, Mom!" With a swift goodbye, she was out the door and running to her childhood friend's house next door. She set to banging on it with her fisted hands, all the while calling, "Barry! Ba-a-a-a-arry!"

When he finally opened the door Dawn almost fell on her face, it surprised her. He gave a slight shout when she came tumbling through the door to a stop behind him, a wide grin on her slim face. "Hey Barry!"

Barry sighed as he shut the door behind his friend. "I really wish you would knock like a normal person."

This sent Dawn into a giggle fit. "But where's the fun in that?" She stretched her arms above her head and twirled around on the ball of her foot. "Anyway, I was just wondering, you wanna go hunt shinies with me?"

This was a topic brought up many times a week, nay, a day. Dawn always wanted to go looking for the nest of shinies that had made their home somewhere in the forest. But Barry never really liked leaving the confines of the town, he prefered buildings, no matter how stout most of them were, to the tall green trees that lined the outskirts of their home.

"I don't know Dawn. Why are you so eager to find the nest?"

Dawn followed him into the kitchen where his mom was washing dishes in the sink. They exchanged pleasantries, the two heading for the kitchen table to sit and discuss. "I dunno. I guess I just want to find out if it's my Charizard's nest or not."

Barry rubbed his forehead. "Dawn, it would only be your Charizard if you captured it. I mean, you're already sixteen. What's taking you so long?"

His question struck home in Dawn, causing her to wince slightly. She looked at her hands that rested on the table top. "I dunno. I guess … I guess I just think I'm not really cut out for it. But I think that if it's that Charizard, I can definitely take care of it."

Barry looked at her with a sad face. "Dawn, nobody in town has been able to catch that Charizard in years. It's too fast, and it won't come near anybody for a battle. How do you expect to catch it if all you have is your Piplup that Professor Rowan gave you a couple of years ago?"

Every time this was brought up, Dawn sank into herself even more, secluding her heart from even her best friend. She knew that it was probably impossible. But she just had to try.

With new determination, she stood and looked at Barry. "I'm going to catch that Charizard. Just you wait." Then she spun on her heel and stormed out of the house.

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><p><em>Ohh, I know I said that,<em> Dawn thought as she stepped over a bush filled with burrs, _but I am sooo_ _lost!_

Deciding to go against Barry wasn't her smartest idea, nor was it very safe. It was almost dark and she had forgotten a flashlight. _I could really use some help right about now!_

Even though she knew nothing would happen, she still wished someone would come and find her. The silence of the forest was evidence of that. As she was stepping over a fallen tree, there was a frighteningly loud cracking sound from above her. This sent her shrieking back over the tree, scrambling along the undergrowth away from the noise and ruckus that was going on behind her. There was yelling, the sound of a Pokémon attack, and an anguished cry, all seeming to mix as one as Dawn covered her ears to block it out. Then all was silent.

As Dawn uncovered her ears she heard the sound of someone's voice drifting away from her. "Forget it. This Pokémon is too weak …" The rest of what they said was lost to Dawn's ears and the forest undergrowth.

Minutes passed silently as Dawn continued to stay hidden under the protection of an over grown Charti berry tree, its branches hanging so low they covered Dawn completely from view. When she felt it was safe enough, Dawn crawled out from beneath the tree and inspected the area around her. Branches had been broken from their trunks and were lying around on the ground, berry trees were destroyed, and was that a …?

Dawn ducked beneath the Charti tree again, shivering from what she hoped was fear. Something big and black had been lying in a bush, still and silent. With her heart beating in her throat, Dawn crawled out into the open again, but slowly this time. She took a step toward the black thing, hesitating. Steeling her determination she grit her teeth and moved toward the thing. She stopped when she saw what it was.

"Topaz …?"

Dawn stared at the black Charizard as it lay breathing heavily in the dirt and leaves on the forest floor, more than likely unconscious from pain. She could see it was heavily injured, and she just knew that it was going to have scars all over. But right at that moment she didn't care. She ran over to the Pokémon she'd nicknamed as a child - even though she was too young to even attempt to catch it - and dropped down in the grass next to it, running a hand over the hurt animal's wing. "Topaz …" she murmured sadly, wiping away tears when she saw that there was a slight tear in the Pokémon's wing. "Oh, you poor thing."

Topaz stirred slightly at the sound of Dawn's voice, its red eyes staring almost blankly into her blue ones. She feared that it wouldn't remember her since it had been a few years since she'd been able to play, but the wounded Pokémon moved its head closer to her, resting its chin on her lap and closing its tired eyes again. It seemed that just moving its head had exhausted it after that battle it had just gone through.

Something flared inside Dawn. She was going to find out who had done this, she swore to herself. The only thing stopping her was that she had no real leads to figuring out who would damage her friend so much that one of its wings ripped and the flame on the tip of its tail flickered so low it frightened Dawn that the large Pokémon just might die. But her hope was restored when she saw Topaz flick its tail slightly, the little fire swelling to about twice the size it had been the past few moments.

That was the best it could do for now, and soon Dawn could hear the sounds of light snoring from the large animal as it fell into a fitful sleep. Fitful because it twitched slightly every few minutes. Dawn lifted Topaz's head slowly off her lap so she could move again. Her legs were asleep, she'd been crouching there for so long with the Pokémon, and she stumbled around for a few seconds until she managed to regain her balance on tingling feet.

"I'll be right back Topaz," she muttered as she attempted to walk as quietly as she could through the dry leaves and sticks scattered everywhere. But it was tough going, and soon she found herself back where she had started. _This is going to take forever …_ she thought as she dropped down next to Topaz's head. Her Pokétch didn't have a signal where she was sitting, so she couldn't call for anybody if she could even try. Lifting her arm in the air didn't help with it either.

When the thought ran through her head, she didn't like the idea of it. But she felt it was the only way to help Topaz get away from all the debris and broken branches that surrounded it. So she reached forward and brushed a hand over Topaz's horn in an attempt to wake it up. "Topaz," she murmured to the Pokémon. "Topaz, you need to get up. This place isn't safe for you."

The shiny Charizard opened its tired eyes slightly. It blinked at her and raised its head a few inches off the ground in trying to get on its feet. But its knees gave way and it was back on its side in the brush. It growled slightly to itself in frustration at its own self-weakness. But the way it was taking it out on itself made Dawn worry even more about it.

"Topaz, come on. Maybe you should just stay here after all, forget I said anything." Dawn tried to push Topaz back down when it tried to rise again, but the Pokémon pushed her aside gently as it managed to get one foot beneath it, stumbling forward into a tree. It took one step forward, but stumbled back two when it became off-balance. "Topaz!"

Topaz growled at Dawn as it leaned its head against the trunk of the tree, its claws digging into the bark. As suddenly as it had touched the tree it lurched away from it, staggering through the forest away from Dawn. Even though it was hurt, Topaz was making pretty good time away from her. Soon she couldn't even see the shiny Pokémon between the darkening trees. She tried calling for it, but the sounds of wild Hoothoot and Zubat were starting to give her the chills. Trying to run through the darkness wasn't a very good idea, but it was the only one she had at the moment. So she set off through the trees in the direction she hoped was home.

She worried about Topaz the entire way as she marched over branches and berry bushes, half eaten Oran and Pecha berries scattered at her feet. It seemed that a few Stunky or even that wild Glameow were wandering around here. When she finally saw the lights from the town people's homes through low branches she rushed through the trees and bushes in hope of getting there faster. But it just wasn't her night.

Something shot in front of her from her left. Dawn couldn't stop her feet fast enough to come to a complete halt, so she crashed into whatever it was and went crashing to the ground. She rubbed her now-sore elbow and rear, the taste of blood filling her mouth. Running her tongue over her bitten lip, she winced. "Ow! What the hell?"

Even though her butt and elbow were killing her now, she couldn't help but feel agitated at whomever or whatever she'd run into. When she looked up from where she was crouched on the ground, she could finally see what it was. It was a boy who looked about her age with purple hair. A scowl marred his tanned, handsome face as he looked at her through his bangs. He seemed to be mumbling something to himself as he got to his feet, turning his back to her. He only looked over his shoulder to ask her, "Are you all right?" as a second thought.

Dawn blinked at his back. "Um. Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

A grunt was what she got in return. He looked like he was about to walk off, then hesitated as he seemed to think something over. Just as quick as he had been to turn away, he spun on his heel and helped pull Dawn to her feet. She stumbled slightly and fell towards him, but before she could even begin the embarrassment of a blushed apology, he'd set her on her feet and turned away again, not even a good-bye thrown over the shoulder. No, all he said, blunt as could be, was, "Town's that way," with a hand pointed in the direction of the lights that seemed to flicker in the dark like an army of fireflies.

Dawn glanced at the lights for only a moment, a thank you on her lips, but when she looked back he was gone. She blinked in astonishment. Her hearth thumped in her chest as she looked around the (somewhat) empty forest. The calls of the wild Hoothoot were starting to get to her, so she picked up her feet and started moving toward the lights of the town ahead of her. She hoped Topaz was all right, and in the back of her mind she wondered about who that purple-haired boy was. Even farther back, she wondered if he was the boy who had just moved into the house down the street from hers with his older brother. _With my luck_, she thought as she narrowly avoided getting hit in the face with the branch of an Oran tree, _I wouldn't doubt it if he'd moved in on the other side of town. Goody._

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><p>The ringing of her alarm was what managed to wake Dawn up in the morning. She rolled over and attempted to swat at it with her hand, but all she did was miss. Soon she became agitated, enough to where she lifted her head from her soft pillow to glare at the Loudred shaped contraption. <em>I am so asking for a new alarm clock.<em> With a final swing, she managed to knock the infernal device off her night stand and to the floor, silencing the thing for now.

Waking up was one thing. Getting out of bed was another. She managed to kick her legs over the side of the bed to the floor, but she didn't want to stand just yet. If it wasn't for the memory of Topaz that flashed through her mind at that moment - or that she was going to be late for school - she probably would have never gotten up as fast as she did. With the speed of a ninja, she was to her closet and dressed in the blink of an eye. And before her mother could even call her for breakfast, she was at the toaster just as a slice of toast popped up. She called good-bye to her mother and grabbed her bag from the couch. She was so glad she'd managed to finish her homework when she'd come home after the forest.

Unable to think of anything else on the way to school, Dawn kept glancing over her shoulder the entire way at the forest she was getting farther and farther away from with each step. The way Topaz had been walking made Dawn fret about it the more she thought about the injured Charizard. Its injured wing made her worry so much that she walked into a tree without even realizing it until the bark was marking her face. She stumbled back, holding her nose in her hand, the sound of giggling surrounded her as girls older and younger than her passed by, whispers floating on the wind to her ears.

"She's the one who hasn't caught one yet."

"Really?"

"No way! That's like a disgrace to the town to have not been able to catch even a Charmander or something as easy as a Trapinch."

Dawn's face burned in embarrassment at the truth behind that last statement. She hated that she was the only girl, nay, person over twelve, who didn't have one of the dragon-like Pokémon of the forest. At times she felt ashamed of herself for it, but now she just felt irritation at the hurtful observation of the other kids every time they saw her. The only time she was ever safe was when she was home or when she was at her friends' houses on either side of town. It was only then that she felt like she wasn't being prosecuted by anyone.

But this morning she decided she'd try to ignore the other kids as they walked past her with pity and amusement in their eyes. Her face might have been bright red, she didn't know, but she did know that she was tired of all the stares a whispers that seemed to follow her wherever she went. She was going to make a change whether everybody liked it or not.

As she sat in her desk at school learning about Pokémon and their abilities, Dawn let her mind wander. It seemed to float everywhere, yet it strayed toward the thought of Topaz and where the shiny Charizard had managed to wander off to. After school today, she decided. She was going to find that Charizard whether it wanted to be or not. But it seemed that today still wasn't a good one for her, because the teacher decided to call on her, her dazed face evidence of her not paying attention.

"Miss Hikari?"

The blunette jumped when she heard her last name, startled out of her daydreaming of the injured Pokémon she was so worried about that she hadn't heard a word the teacher had said. "Y-yes, Ms. Soledad?"

The teacher, Ms. Soledad, peered at Dawn over the heads of the other students, who had taken the liberty to turn around in their seats to stare at Dawn, just making the entire situation worse. "Can you please answer the question I just asked?"

Well, she was in a pickle now. Between the daydreaming and not paying attention, Dawn couldn't even really remember what subject she was in. With a quick glance to the clock that hung above the chalkboard she saw it was before noon, so it was either literature or math class. Now if only she could remember which one it was.

She cast a glance about the room, finding May's face in the small crowd. The brunette was holding up four fingers and mouthing "Four" to Dawn, so she took this as a sign that it was math. Feeling proud of herself, she said with as much courage as she could muster, "Four, Ms. Soledad."

Ms. Soledad and the rest of the class stared at the girl. Everyone's eyes were on her, except for May, who had taken the chance to bury her face in her arms, muffling her laughter. At least Dawn thought it was laughter. May's shoulders were shaking, and there were some stifled hysterics coming from the girl, even from across the room. Then everybody else began to laugh, startling Dawn.

Dawn's face burned even brighter when she realized that she had been completely wrong, whatever the question had been. She felt a slight resentment toward her friend, but it was her own fault for not paying attention, so she couldn't really hate the brunette for trying to get some fun out of the day, even though this just made hers feel worse.

Once everybody calmed down, Ms. Soledad coughed to cover the remnants of her laughter as she tried to maintain order once more. With one more glance in Dawn's direction, she corrected the girl. "I'm sorry, Dawn. But I don't believe the amount of legendaries cataloged is four. Can anybody else answer my question?"

While she called on someone else, Dawn took the time to feel the humiliation of the moment, putting her head down on her desk, the feeling of the cold, fake wood nice against her cheek. She knew this would just get her called on again, but she didn't really care this time. She'd just say she didn't know the answer, save herself the trouble of being laughed at again. All she wished was that the day was over. But she still had five more hours to go until she could just rush home and lay on her bed to watch the dragon-like Pokémon fly outside her window.

She was so glad when the bell for lunch finally rang an hour later. Kids filed out into the hallway, but May stayed behind while Dawn gathered her stuff. The blunette had a few choice words she wanted to say to her friend, but she decided to bite her tongue and keep them to herself, which really helped in the long run when she was irritated, especially with May's little antics.

While she was sticking her notebook into her book bag, something out in the hallway caught Dawn's eye. Like a flash of lightning, she darted to the doorway of the classroom, looking everywhere at once just to see it one more time: the color purple, the hair of the boy she had seen in the woods last night. But the only purple she saw was some girl's shirt as she passed by, glancing at Dawn briefly while she walked away.

Dawn sighed and went back to her desk to retrieve her bag and followed May silently into the hall. She could see on the other girl's face that she had some questions for her, but she kept quiet about them. At least, until they got to the cafeteria.

At their table, Dawn had barely started pulling out her lunch before May went at it. "What was that about in the classroom? You looked like you'd seen a ghost and tried to chase it or something."

May's choice of simile made Dawn wince slightly. Her friend knew she hated ghosts, but sometimes she just forgot, not even meaning to bring it up sometimes until it was too late.

Realizing her mistake, May covered her mouth with her hand, a muffled "Oops" through her fingers. Removing her hand she said, "Sorry."

The blunette just shook her head. "It's okay. No big deal."

The sound of trays hitting the table pulled the girls' attention away from themselves for a moment as they looked up to see Misty plopping into a chair next to Dawn, Leaf on the other side of the table by May. Their hair styles were in similar styles today, almost a reflection of the other. Misty had pulled some of her hair up into a small bun on the right side of her head, right above her ear. Leaf's was the same but on the opposite side of her head.

"So, what you girls talking about?"

Leaf stretched her arm out across the table to snatch a carrot from Misty's tray, a sly grin on her face as her red-headed friend glared at her. "Yeah, did we miss anything yet?"

May shook her head as she began to eat the sandwich that she had packed that morning. She hated cafeteria food, sharing the same contempt for it that Dawn did. They both preferred to bring food from home instead of having to wonder what was in the meat surprise that was served every Wednesday. Yeah, like they needed to get sick on the weekend. "Not much yet. Only about Dawn darting to the door when she saw something in the hallway."

Three pairs of eyes trained on Dawn, looking for answers. She began to attempt an answer, but turned as chicken as the sandwich she held between her hands. Feeling as though this would help her, she chewed on the bite she had just taken, looking down at the table. She even managed to protect her little bowl of raspberries from Leaf's greedy hand, unlike Misty's unfortunate carrots. "I thought I saw somebody."

"Well, duh." Misty took her fork and poked at the tuna casserole that sat on her tray. "It's kind of hard _not_ to see somebody in a hallway filled with people. But either way," she continued, choosing to push her tray toward Leaf, who she knew would eat anything, "who did you think you saw?"

Dawn set her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand. "I don't know his name."

"It was a boy?"

A nod was given. May grinned. Now this was a topic she was good at. "Would it happen to be a boy you've never seen before until recently?"

She stared at Dawn while she thought.

Another nod.

"Ah," May said wisely. "Then it must be the new boy, Paul. He just moved in with his brother down the street from you, right?"

Now that she mentioned it, Dawn _had_ seen a man who didn't look that far into his twenties down the street carrying boxes inside the night before. His hair was similar to the boys, but a darker shade. Could that be the brother of the boy she'd seen in the forest last night?

_Anything's possible_, she thought while she said, "You said his name was Paul? How do you know his name all ready if he just moved here?" She took another bite of her sandwich.

May laughed as she pulled out a bottle of soda from her backpack. "Have you even really gotten a good look at him yet?" A flush across Dawn's face was her answer. "Well there you go. The kid's good-looking, and most of the girls around here know it. I just heard it through the grape-vine." She took a sip of the soda, coughing when the carbonated drink decided it wanted to try taking a trip down the wrong pipe.

Leaf set to whacking May on the back, only making the girl feel worse. Choking on soda and having a sore back hadn't been the worst she'd been through though. "You gonna live, May?"

Through another small coughing fit, May managed to choke out, "Yeah, Leaf. I'll be okay in a few minutes. It just really burns when a soda tries to go down your windpipe." With the back of her hand she wiped her mouth, one last cough managing to make its way up.

Order settled once more, the girls began to talk of things other than boys. Dawn said that she was finally going to catch one of the young Pokémon out in the woods that afternoon after school. Each of her friends stared at her in turn, amazement shining on all three of their faces. Then they all seemed to jump at her, hugging her and congratulating her on finally managing to gather enough courage to try to capture a Pokémon of her own. They caused such a racket in the cafeteria that all eyes were on them, and May even took the liberty to announce what Dawn had just told the three.

Dawn was so mortified, she tried pulling May down from the chair she was standing on, but the girl refused to step down. May cupped her hands around her mouth as a makeshift megaphone and shouted to the entire room, teachers, students, and cafeteria workers included, "Hey everybody! Dawn's going to finally catch one of the Pokémon in the forest today!"

There was a stunned silence, one where Dawn took the opportunity to feel so very embarrassed at her friend's behavior. Then a roar soared around the room as everybody cheered for the girl, glad she was taking a step farther in life they'd done years ago. The late bloomer of the town was finally going to be one of them after what felt like a long four years for all the town's people. Applause seemed to be the loudest at the four's table.

When May finally decided to sit down, Dawn grabbed her by the shoulders of her shirt and shook her with all the might the small girl had. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she just about yelled, shaking May each word for emphasis. She knew her friend was only thinking the best for her, but this was going a little over board.

"I'm helping you get some self esteem," May said as she unhooked Dawn's fingers from her shirt, a swift shake of the head as she tried to clear her thoughts from spinning around inside her cranium. "No need to try and decapitate me, you know."

"Well, I just couldn't help it." Dawn's forehead smacked the table top. She couldn't believe what had just happened. "I just hope there won't be an audience when I head out into the woods today."

Misty, May, and Leaf shared a silent glance across the lunch table. They hoped the same thing for their friend. They knew that she had performance anxiety, and it was even worse when a crowd surrounded her. The girl couldn't even sing around them, she was always so nervous. But she was slowly coming out of her shell. Years of work had helped with it.

"You want us to pray for you?" The three of them stared at Leaf. "What? My cousin got me to go to her church last Sunday. Kinda got me into it." They just continued to stare.

She sighed, exasperated. "You wanna try it or not? It might make you feel better."

Dawn was hesitant, but after a few moments of thought she nodded, clasping hands with Misty beside her and May across from her. With all their hands together, they bowed their heads and Leaf began to pray. "Dear Arceus," she began, "please help Dawn today as she heads out into the forest in trying to catch a Pokémon of her own. Just please, please, let it be something cute, like a Charmander, or even a Swablu." This earned the brunette a glare from across the table. She ignored her friend and continued. "Also, let her remember to bring enough Poké Balls with her. Only she would forget to bring them."

"Okay, that's it!" Dawn dove across the table and attacked her friend.

Leaf exploded in a fit of giggles as she managed to twist away and fly from the floor to the door in under ten seconds. But this didn't deter Dawn. She gave chase, yelling, "Leaf, I'm gonna kill you!"

While Leaf and Dawn played cat and mouse with each other, the cafeteria had grown silent as everybody watched the short, small fiasco happen at the four's lunch table. May and Misty just sat there and stared after their two friends. Then they looked at each other, both sweat dropping at the two's idiocy and childishness they seemed to share. It baffled them both.

"You wanna just get the hell out of here?"

May picked up her lunch box and trash and followed Misty to the nearest trash can. "Amen, sister."

With their bags slung over their shoulders, the two of them walked out of the cafeteria with all eyes on them, their heads held high and their walk sure as they managed to get out of the cafeteria before bursting into giggles as soon as they were out of the other students' sights. Now all they had to do was find Dawn and Leaf. Good luck with that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Mwa ha ha. This is actually getting off to a promising start. I think. I hope? XD

Anyway, with this chapter being twelve pages long, I have no idea how long it'll take for me to write a second one. Wish me luck, please xD


	2. The Hunt

**A/N**: Soo, I've been asked by multiple people where the second chapter was. I apologize for how long this has taken me.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.**

* * *

><p>"Quit following me!" Dawn called behind her as she attempted to hop over a fallen tree covered in squishy wet moss. It was after school in the forest behind her house and she was attempting to do as she had promised that afternoon, to at least and attempt to catch one of the wild dragon-like Pokémon that roamed the outskirts of the town's sky all the time.<p>

Laughter followed her every step as she trudged further into the trees. A group of students from school had decided to follow her and she just couldn't get over the fact that it just felt like they were making fun of her. The more she walked, the more angry she became. At one point she just stopped, her temper starting to fume over. Everybody had hushed as she stood still, the anger almost flowing off of her in such palpable waves that they all swore they could see them.

_Just imagine they're not there, Dawn_, she told herself. _They are a figment of your imagination. Nothing more_. She repeated this to herself over and over again, but her concentration was broken when somebody behind her tripped over a root. Then she finally lost it.

She screeched at the teenagers behind her, and this was enough to discourage any thoughts they had of following her any further. They scurried away as fast as they could, falling over each other in their attempt to escape Dawn's wrath. "Really," she muttered as she pulled a water bottle stashed in the bag she was carrying. After taking a swallow she continued on through the trees.

There'd been a storm while she'd been in school, so thin trees were scattered across the ground, along with leaves and branches that were unfortunate enough to be caught in the strong wind. All this made it difficult for Dawn to make it through the mud that coated the ground at her feet. One unfortunate step landed her in a puddle of muck that made her cringe just at the sound her rain boot made as it sunk deeper into the disgusting sludge that used to be dirt. "Oh, this is so gross," she muttered as she tried to shake the sticky stuff off, but with little success.

It took her a while, but she finally made it back to the spot where she'd found Topaz lying helpless on the ground the day before. Not much had changed: a few trees were still fallen, berry trees were crushed from the impact of Topaz's body, and there was a small dug out where the poor shiny Charizard had lain, in pain after being attacked by a mysterious trainer.

"Now," she murmured. "Where did that shiny run off to." Another log was in her path, so she used what she'd learned from the last one and attempted to vault over it. But she came up a little short, her foot slipping across the wet moss that was growing across the trunk.

_Um_. She looked at the heels of her hands and the knees of her jeans as she stood slowly, not even wanting to know what had gotten in her hair during her fall. _I don't think that was supposed to happen. I hate being clumsy._

More thoughts came to her head, but a thunderous roar above her sent her back to the shaking ground. The sound was coming from everywhere, you couldn't even pick a place close to it. It was so frightening that Dawn ducked down and covered her head with her hands in a fetal position, hidden beneath the same Charti tree from the night before. The roar went on for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few seconds.

When Dawn could finally stand back up, she slowly got to her feet and stared out from under the hanging branches of the vegetation. Nothing seemed too out of place, minus all the debris that was left from last night and earlier that day. Stepping back into the open Dawn's eyes roamed back and forth across the ground of the forest, searching for something that didn't seem right. But when she still couldn't find anything, she took a deep breath and started to walk through the wreckage on the forest floor.

Topaz, where are you? Dawn thought as she paused for a breath a few minutes later. She'd found nothing so far, and through the canopy above her, she could see that the sun was starting to go down. With the giant hole that had formed yesterday where Topaz had fallen through - Wait, what? The girl ran over and kicked up grass and piles of dirt as she tried to keep the gaping hole in her sights. If the shiny had fallen through there, then Topaz had to be around somewhere nearby.

"Topaz!" Her call echoed off the trees as she raced between them, stumbling along the way in the growing darkness. "Topaz, where are you? It's me, Dawn!" There was no response to her anxious calls, no matter how much she tried.

"Topaz!" she almost screamed, coming to a complete halt. All that running had caused her to become out of breath, but with one huge gulp of air she was able to shriek out the Pokémon's name one last time. Breathing hard, she became aware of the darkness that had started to gather everywhere around her. This was the part of the day that she hated the most, when the wild night Pokémon decided to come out and haunt the evening.

Just when she was about to give up, she had already fallen to her knees when she heard the flapping of wings above the canopy. As she wiped her tears away with the back of her hands, she looked up to see something large lighting down right overhead. Scrambling out of the way, she fell over another fallen trunk. What is up with these logs? Dawn thought faintly, her attention too enraptured by the Pokémon she could now see landing in front of her to really think much of it.

"Tobasu!"

The grin on the Flygon's face was so welcoming that Dawn rushed from where she had landed on her rear and flung her arms around the Pokémon's neck. Never before had she been so glad to see her old Pokémon friend like she was at the moment. Tobasu the Flygon nudged Dawn with its head. With realization, Dawn climbed onto the great Pokemon's back. She was unprepared when it began to flap its wings, causing them to slowly climb through the trees into the open skies above. From her vantage point, Dawn could see all the way to the other town across the forest. Building lights grew smaller as they gained altitude, slowly inclining into the puffs of clouds. Moisture formed on her skin as Tobasu flew with great speed through the clouds, giving Dawn the sensation of rain as soft as cotton candy as each ball of water vapor touched her.

Too soon, they were out of the cloud bank. Looking down Dawn saw that they were near her town. She couldn't believe how far out she had walked in search of her wild Charizard friend. It almost seemed surreal, how far the woods were spread across the land, almost like they could go on forever. But it was over once Tobasu started diving toward the ground at high speeds. Dawn laughed with the thrill of it, keeping a tight hold on the Flygon's neck as they soared over house tops until they reached her own. Tobasu lighted on the front walk before her home. Inside, Dawn could hear voices from the TV filtering through the open window on the bottom floor. She could also see Glammy's oval ears poking around the curtain as she jumped onto the window sill, her swollen belly giving her a hard time for balance. Sticking her nose against the window, she mewed long and loud, surely letting Johanna know that her daughter was home.

Outside Dawn patted Tobasu on its long neck. She hated to say goodbye, but she needed to get to her homework that sat in a large pile on her desk. With one more pat and a farewell over her shoulder, Dawn began to walk inside. But a chomp on the hood of her jacket dragged her backward, the heels of her feet skidding across the pavement. Looking behind her she found that Tobasu had taken hold of her jacket, attempting to keep her with it for longer. For a moment she didn't understand. But then Tobasu reached its long neck down, touching its nose to the Poké Ball that hung from Dawn's belt. It pressed the button in the middle of the red and white ball, enlarging it to its regular size.

Dawn looked up at Tobasu as it returned to its normal height. The Flygon sat on its back legs in anticipation as it watched her through its goggled eyes, blinking intelligently as she stared. She looked between the ball and the Pokémon for a moment, not getting it. Then it hit her. "You . . . You want me to catch you?" Dawn whispered.

Tobasu nodded. Carefully, Dawn pulled the ball from her belt. She held it gently in her hands, looking from it to the Pokémon and back. Unsure whether she really should do it or not, she stared hard at the Poké Ball once more before looking back at Tobasu. "Are you sure you want me to?"

In response, Tobasu rubbed its head against Dawn's stomach in affection, growling slightly in anticipation. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Dawn took a deep breath, then tossed the ball above Tobasu, watching as it popped open and dragged Tobasu into it. Dawn looked on as the ball rocked back and forth in the grass, a cold sweat drying on the back of her neck as the ball rolled toward her foot. Soon the blinking button stopped, and the telltale sound _ping_-ed as the Poké Ball successfully held Tobasu.

Dawn couldn't believe it. Her first catch, the first Pokémon Dawn had ever caught on her own, without any help from anyone. Wiping away tears she leaned over and picked the ball up from the ground. She flipped it back and forth between her hands, rolling it over her palms over and over again. Too late, she realized that it might be affecting Tobasu inside, so she tossed the ball, letting the Flygon back out. The poor thing stumbled about as soon as it was released, plopping on the ground with a loud thump. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Tobasu!" Dawn cried, dropping to one knee beside it. "I didn't know that it would spin you around in there too."

But the Flygon just let it go, brushing it off with a wobbly flip of a clawed hand in her general direction. Soon its eyes cleared, blinking behind its goggles, looking around for a moment to gather its bearings before turning back to Dawn. It growled happily at her, grinning like it was still the mischievous Trapinch it had once been, digging holes throughout the forest floor. Its tail brushed against her legs as she stood back up.

I can't believe it, she thought. I have to tell Barry! With this thought she almost pleaded with the Flygon to return to the Poké Ball, she wanted to make this surprise as spectacular as she could, especially since he went to the other high school in town. Since she wouldn't be able to show him tomorrow - after a little coercing between the two of them, Dawn pleading and Tobasu growling in slight defiance - she carried her new Pokémon next door. She repeated the process of how she knocked the day before, her voice carrying annoyingly through the door. She stepped back when the door open, a brilliant smile across her face. But she was disappointed when she saw that it wasn't Barry who opened the door, but his mother. Hiding her disappointment, she apologized for how she had knocked and asked politely where Barry was, and his mother told her he had had to stay after school. Dawn thanked her, attaching the Poké Ball back to her belt and taking off down the road.

As she ran she reached the more industrial part of town. Houses became larger with more space between them, and every now and then she would pass a business at the ends of blocks. At one she stopped and jogged in place as she waited out the light. She kept her eyes on the crosswalk light, watching the intersection one out of the corner of her eye. Once she saw it was okay to cross, she began to hop across the white blocks that made up the crosswalk. She hummed slightly to herself as she jumped from one foot to the other, almost as if it were a game of hopscotch. There was just one more block for her to hop when the sound of an engine coming toward her made her look up.

For a moment she didn't see anything. Then the roar of the motorcycle filled her ears and the body of the bike her vision. It was already so close, the rider not even really paying any attention to the fact that his light was still red. She watched as the bike's headlights swept over her. If she'd had any sense she would have moved, but some inane instinct made her freeze on the painted white block.

Everything happened too quickly for her to process. The motorcycle was coming at her, nearly yards away from her, and she could nearly feel the heat of the lamp's beam from the bike. Then it was gone. As she stood on the side walk, staring after the bike blankly, she noticed there was a hard pressure on her arm. She looked at her arm, wondering what it was, belatedly noticing that somebody was gripping her upper arm. Her eyes travelled from the tanned hand, up the jacket sleeve, past the collar and to their face. A tanned face that she recognized.

_It's him_, she thought as she stared openly up at him. He was looking down at her with a bored look, and when he released her he said, "Watch where you're going, troublesome."

_What?_ Dawn found it difficult to come up with something that wouldn't sound completely dull. But she drew a blank, her brow furrowing as she watched him just _walk away from her_, heading across the street the way she had come.

"What just happened?" she murmured to herself. She rubbed absentmindedly at her arm where he had gripped her. She could still feel the force of his hand beneath the fabric of her jacket, almost as if he still had a hold on her. "Never mind," she mused aloud, "I need to find Barry before he leaves the school." She hurried down the side walk, zipping up her jacket as she ran.

.

.

.

"Excuse me." The female student Dawn had managed to flag down stopped and looked at her. "Could you tell me where I can find class 1-E?"

The girl smiled, turning halfway to point down the hallway behind her. "Third room on your left."

Dawn gave a polite smile in return, calling thank you over her shoulder. The girl nodded and continued on her way to the front of the school. Keeping an eye out for the classroom sign, Dawn thought some simple things through. Like, why didn't she just fly with Tobasu? Then she would have been able to avoid almost being run over by that motor bike; but then she wouldn't have seen the new boy. She remembered that May had said his name was Paul. "Paul," she whispered, trying the name out. She liked it.

She stopped thinking about earlier once she came upon the door for class 1-E. It was slightly ajar, enough that she could hear voices floating into the hallway. They weren't clear enough for her to understand, but there were enough of them for her to know there were multiple people inside. With a light knock, she stuck her head around the door, calling lightly, "Sorry for interrupting. Is Barry here?"

About four people in the room stopped talking to look at her. Two girls, two boys, she noticed. There was only one blond one, and she smiled when he excused himself from the small group. "Dawn, what're you doing here?" he asked once they were in the hall.

"I wanted to show you something. Do you think I could steal you from your study group for a little while?"

"Yeah, sure. Hold on." He leaned around the door, calling to his companions that he'd be back in a little while, for them to keep working without him. The one boy left in the group called after him, telling him "good luck." Barry rolled his eyes at him and shut the door. A light blush colored his face, Dawn noticed. "Let's go."

They set off down the hall, toward the doors that lead to the breezeway. Barry left a rock between the door and the door frame to keep it open. "So, what's up?"

Pulling the newly occupied Poké Ball from her belt, she pressed the button, then tossed it up in the air. After a flash of light that splashed across their faces, Tobasu stood before them, its long tail sweeping around Dawn's feet. With a look of satisfaction on its face, it leaned down to nuzzle Dawn's cheek, growling in affection. "What do you think?" Dawn asked, turning to Barry. She was so close to bursting with laughter when she saw his face.

Staring agape, Barry seemed to be in shock. This pleased Dawn to no end since she knew that her childhood friend had had doubts about her ability to catch a dragon Pokémon; seemed today was a day for surprises. "D-Dawn. You really caught one?" he stammered. He ran a hand over his hair in astonishment, stepping toward the Mystic Pokémon. "Did you really catch this Flygon?"

Smiling, Dawn reached up and held Tobasu's face in her hands. "Of course I did. Tobasu didn't fight - it didn't want to. I've known this Pokémon since it was just a newly-hatched Trapich, digging around under the ground like there was no tomorrow. Trapich don't usually live in forests the way this one did. I never understood it while I was growing up." She pressed her forehead to the Tobasu's, giggling slightly when the Flygon flapped its wings.

"Dawn, do you know what this means?" She looked at her friend. He had excitement rolling off him in waves, a smile gracing his face from ear to ear. "Dawn. This means that they can't pick on you anymore! No more teasing, no more names. It means you're _free_."

Dawn held Tobasu's face close, thinking about what he was saying. _Free_. It sounded almost too good to be true. But she accepted it, squeezing her eyes shut when she felt the tears spring to her eyes. _Free_.

"Come on, we have to go tell the town that you did the unthinkable. I don't think anybody's been able to catch a Flygon like this." Barry reached for her hand, intending to pull her back into the school to probably tell everybody about it. But she pulled away before he could touch her.

"No!" Her outburst seemed to upset him, so she tried in a softer tone. "I mean, I'd like to go slow with this. The next time we have Battle Tactics class, I'll show it off, that I can catch something other than a gifted Piplup." She grabbed his hand, holding it between both of hers. "Please, Barry. Don't tell anyone."

A shadow passed over his face, like he wasn't sure if he should wait like she asked. But then it cleared, and he acted like it was never even there. "All right. I'll wait. Just don't take too long, okay? A secret like this is hard to hold." Then he grinned, and she knew he was the right one to go to first.

"All right," she promised. "I'll tell the girls tomorrow. I just hope they don't freak out - if May gets on the table and announces this like she did when I said I was going searching, I'll tackle her myself."

Chuckling, Barry ruffled her hair. "Do you need a ride home?"

While they'd been talking it had steadily begun to grow darker. Dawn looked up at the sky, at the stars that started twinkling like little diamonds with the other constellations up above. "No, I think Tobasu here would be faster getting me home than any car. Isn't that right, Tobasu?" she cooed, rubbing her cheek against the Flygon's head again.

Barry rolled his high in good humor. "All right, I can see you're really attached to it. Are you going to try and catch the shiny Charizard now that you have Tobasu?"

Dawn froze. Tobasu nudged her, and she gave it a small smile. She'd never thought about that. Yes, she realized that she now had the ability to catch other Pokémon. Maybe . . . Just maybe she now had enough power to help tame the wild shiny Charizard, to help nurse its torn wing. But she first had to learn with Tobasu. "Maybe," she murmured. "But not now."

"Well . . ." She looked up at Barry. "How about you go home and think it over. I mean -" He ran a hand over his hair again. "This is a big deal. A _big_, big deal, Dawn."

Smiling, Dawn nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Barry." She hugged her friend, squeezing him from all the emotion running through her. "I'll see you later, all right?"

"Yeah, later, Dawn."

With that, Dawn climbed onto the Flygon's back, holding on tight as it pushed away from the ground. She waved good bye to Barry as they flew further and further from the school. She settled on Tobasu's back, between its wings, her legs swinging lightly below her. The flight was quick, since she'd only had to run a few blocks to reach Barry's school from her house.

When Tobasu lighted down in front of her house, she slid off its back onto her front walk. She yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes as Tobasu followed her in. Shutting the door behind her, she climbed the stairs to her room. She was just so tired after her day, and she wanted to get to bed. But first she had to let her mom know she was home.

"Mom?" She knocked on her mother's bedroom door. Opening it slightly, she peeked around the door to see if her mother was even in her room. "Mom?" she called again, softer. Looking around she saw that her mother wasn't in the room. Odd. Usually Johanna retired to her room a little after eight. Looking at her Pokétch, Dawn saw that it was only half-past seven or so. Where was her mother?

_Maybe she just went out_, she thought as she headed to where her bedroom was at the end of the hall. _I'm pretty sure she'll be back soon._ Pushing her door open, she let Tobasu in, then kicked the door lightly with her foot so it would shut. Walking over to her bed, she fell heavily onto it, bunching the comforter around her. "Here, Tobasu. Climb on up."

Tobasu looked at her, then to the bed. It shrugged, clambering onto the mattress. It sagged beneath the large Pokemon's weight as it curled around Dawn. She chuckled slightly, rearranging herself so she was tucked under one of its wings. She could feel the heat coming from her Flygon's skin; it wasn't so hot that it was uncomfortable. With its antennae laying almost across her, she ran a finger over the one that was nicked near the end. She'd always wondered how it had happened. But she didn't dwell on it at the moment, instead cuddled close to Tobasu, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

* * *

><p>There was an annoyingly loud sound coming from Dawn's floor. Cracking her eyes open slowly, she looked over Tobasu - who was somehow still asleep through all the racket - seeing that it was her Loudred-shaped alarm clock. Again.<p>

_This thing has to go_, she grumbled internally. It was hard to ignore the alarm clock, though. So she began the process of waking up: kicking the alarm clock to shut it up, going to the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, shower, dress. It was such a long and tedious list that it was the entire reason her alarm was set so early in the first place.

It was still dark by the time she was out of the shower. With a towel wrapped around her, she padded back to her room to dress. She frowned when she saw her door was shut. She tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. Pushing with her shoulder, she managed to make it move enough that she could look around the door. On the floor lay Tobasu, its tail blocking the door. It must have rolled off the bed when she'd gone to take her shower.

"Hey. Hey, Tobasu!" she called, still straining against the door, trying to make it move further. She finally managed to push it a few more inches, enough for her to slip between the door and the frame. "You are such a lazy Flygon, Tobasu!"

Its antennae twitched slightly, finally picking up Dawn's voice as she went about getting ready for school. Kicking her book bag out from under her bed, she pulled out her class schedule. She glanced at it as she went through her closet of clothes. She found that she had Battle Tactics today after lunch. Good. She'd have a full stomach and complete concentration.

With her mood officially lifted, she hummed as she pulled some jeans from her dresser, and an off-the-shoulder shirt and tank top from her closet. _Might as well look a little fashionable today_, she mused as she laid the clothes across her bed. Making Tobasu turn its head so she could change, she quickly pulled on her underthings, then her clothes. Once she was decent she let Tobasu move again.

"All right," she said, turning back to her Pokémon. "Time to get in the Poké Ball. I know you don't like it," she said hurriedly when she saw Tobasu's expression. "But, I want you to be a surprise for everyone. It'll make it even cooler when everybody sees you in one of my classes today. Please, Tobasu?"

The look on its face said that it didn't want to go back in the ball, but when it flicked its eyes over to her, it heaved a sigh. With a resigned look it lumbered over to her, nosing the button on the capsule to make it change to its full size. Grimacing at Dawn, Tobasu pushed the button again, the bright red beam connecting and dragging it into the Poké Ball. "Thanks, Tobasu," she murmured as she clicked the ball to her belt. She made sure to grab Piplup's ball before leaving her room, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

Downstairs, the smell of bacon wafted from the kitchen. Dawn gave it an appreciative sniff, wondering if Johanna had finally returned home. Upon further inspection, she found her mother in the kitchen, humming to herself as she nudged the bacon around in the pan with a spatula.

"Morning, Mom," she said as she walked down the stairs. She set her bag on one of the chairs by the breakfast bar. Moving around it into the kitchen, she kissed Johanna on the cheek.

"Good morning, Dawn." Johanna smiled at her daughter as she moved the bacon strips from the pan onto a plate covered with a sheet of paper towel. "How would you like your eggs this morning, sweetie?"

Dawn bit her lip as she thought. "How about scrambled?"

Her mother smiled as she said, "Scrambled it is." Then she went back to cooking.

While Dawn sat at the table, she saw Glammy waddling toward her food bowl. She was going to burst any day now. Dawn watched as Glammy went to munching on the Pokémon food, barely able to even really stand while she ate. The blunette felt bad for the poor Pokémon, but was excited at the same time: she couldn't wait for her kittens to be born.

"Here we go." Dawn's attention was brought back to breakfast as Johanna placed a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes in front of her. "Eat up, I'm sure you're going to have an exciting day at school today."

"Hm?" She looked up at her mother curiously. "What do you mean?"

Johanna chuckled, pointing to the extra Poké Ball on her belt. "I could hear you yelling all the way down here. I'm sure you'll turn into a wonderful trainer." She smiled. Dawn mirrored with one of her own.

"Thanks, Mom," she said. Then she dug into her breakfast.

After she'd eaten and said good bye to her mom, Dawn grabbed her jacket where it was slung over the couch arm and headed for school. As she walked, she could still hear the whispers around her, but today she ignored them. She'd show in Battle Tactics that she wasn't completely incompetent, that she could catch a Pokémon of her own. She was in such a good mood that she pulled Piplup's ball from her belt and released him from the capsule. She could use the company.

"Morning, Piplup," she said once the Pokémon had materialized. She hadn't walked with Piplup to school for weeks, and it felt nice to have a companion for once. "Guess what."

"Pip?" He looked up at her expectantly as he waddled along beside her.

"I've got a new friend for you to meet today. I can't let them out now, it's going to be a surprise later." Holding a finger to her lips, she shared a secretive smile with her starter.

Piplup bounced excitedly alongside her, giving cries of joy as they walked. This earned her a few confused looks from onlookers. Dawn didn't care - she liked that Piplup was excited. It was a change of scenery for her, and she liked that as well. "How about we run the rest of the way? Get some exercise."

She'd never known Piplup to dismiss a challenge. With a huff and a puffing of his chest, Piplup was raring to go. He even took off before her, leaving Dawn in his wake.

"Hey!" she called, laughing as she ran to catch up.  
>.<p>

.

.

By the time she'd reached the school gates, the first bell was beginning to ring. _Good thing we decided to run_, Dawn thought as she reached for Piplup's Poké Ball. Upon returning him, she raced inside the school along with her fellow school mates, continuing to ignore their whispers and taunts. Today was the day things changed, she told herself as she walked with her chin high.

For her first two classes she was able to sit still long enough to take a test in each subject. Then, during her contest class, she was barely able to contain her urge to twitch in her seat. Contest class was always the one class period that she would pay attention, take her notes, listen to the teacher's advice. But for once she couldn't sit still. She knew it was because she couldn't wait for her battle tactics class after lunch. She also knew that she was going to get the third degree while she ate.

Once the dismissal bell rang, she was out of her seat before anyone else, hurrying through the door into the hallway so she could snag a seat for herself and her friends. But as she was coursing her way through the growing throng of people, she failed to stop in time when someone crossed her path. Her backpack fell from her shoulder, its half-zipped zipper pulling open and allowing her stuff to tumble to the floor.

Saying a hurried apology, she hitched her bag back onto her shoulder as she collected her books and binders from the tiled floor. Tanned hands picked up a couple of the books. Dawn froze when she saw them, recognizing the sleeve from the day before. Slowly she stood, her items held tightly to her chest as she uttered a small thank you.

Before her stood Paul. He glanced quickly at the titles of her textbooks before handing them back to her. She thanked him again as she briskly stuffed everything back into her bag. Around her she could feel the students walking past her on their way to lunch, but Dawn didn't take her eyes off of the boy in front of her.

By the time she could manage something to say, the hallways were almost empty, except for them and a couple students taking their time. "Um, thank you for yesterday," she said, fidgeting where she stood. Looking at where he leaned against a locker, she flushed in embarrassment. _I know, I'm not the wittiest or best with words_, she chided herself. _At least I'm not being rude._

He nodded at her, his eyes flicking up to look at something over her shoulder. Then they were back on her. He seemed almost . . . bored.

_That's nothing different from what I've seen_, she thought smugly. She could almost feel the twitch of a smirk on her face at the thought.

Raising an eyebrow at her, he pushed off of the locker. "Something funny, Troublesome?"

Oh, shoot. She really had smirked. He probably thought it was at him. She tried to think of something. "Oh. Nothing. Just thought of something from the other day." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Really."

She nodded, raising an eyebrow of her own at him. _See, I'm not completely dumb._

The subtle movement of one of her Poké Balls startled her. She turned slightly to look at them where they were clipped to her belt, moving her jacket so she could see them better. Tobasu's ball was twitching ever so slightly. Dawn had heard of Pokémon that would release themselves from their Poké Balls on their own. She'd seen it happen a couple times in class before. The teachers always ordered the Pokémon back into their balls; Pokémon weren't allowed out of them in class unless the curriculum that day called for it.

Fearing that Tobasu might try to jump from its ball, Dawn clamped a hand around it, avoiding pressing the ball that would automatically release the Flygon. Tapping the ball lightly with one finger, she hoped that Tobasu would get the hint and stay still. But it seemed like it didn't, since a few moments later it twitched again.

Glancing at Dawn, she saw that he was actually a bit curious as to what she was doing, that eyebrow up high again. Controlling Tobasu's ball was getting more difficult as the seconds passed, so she had to quickly excuse herself, apologizing and thanking him again for helping her pick up her bag's contents. Then she booked it for the nearest bathroom.

Making sure that each stall was empty, Dawn finally let Tobasu out of the ball. In a flash of light, the Flygon stretched to its full length. Its tail lazily swung to and fro as Tobasu looked at her. It seemed slightly annoyed that it had to sit in the Poké Ball for so long.

"Tobasu, I know you want out, but I only have lunch to make it through and then you can come out and wow everybody." She clasped her hands together as she pleaded with the Pokemon. "Please, Tobasu?"

Grunting its irritation, Tobasu lowered its head to her eye level. It growled low in its throat, showing that it didn't agree with the choice. But it reached for its ball anyway, pressing the button with its nose like it did earlier that morning. It disappeared with the red beam of light, clearing the bathroom floor. Dawn sighed as she touched Tobasu's Poké Ball. _Soon, Tobasu_, she thought as she walked out of the bathroom. _You'll have your spotlight soon. I promise._

* * *

><p>"So, how'd it go last night?"<p>

Dawn hadn't even had the time to sit down next to Misty and start on her lunch before she began to be grilled. As she lifted her school issued plastic fork and tried poking at what was supposed to be macaroni and cheese, she wished that she'd put enough time aside to make her lunch that morning. But for the moment, she pushed that aside, instead looking up at her friend. "How'd what go?"

May rolled her eyes, leaning forward almost conspiringly to whisper, "You know. The nest hunting."

Leaf, who sat beside May again, looked up from the homework she was doing. "Did you really go last night like you said you would?" Her reading glasses slipped slightly down her nose.

Dawn was the one who rolled her eyes this time, spearing a piece of pear from the fruit cocktail mix on her tray. "Yes, I did go last night like I said. And yes, I did find something."

She kept her eyes downcast to avoid seeing the shocked looks on her friends faces. When she dared to peek up, she saw that May had stopped mid-chew, Leaf mid-answer, and Misty mid-swallow. Each of them stared at her with equal amounts of shock.

"What?" she demanded. "Is it so hard to believe that I found something?"

"I can't believe it," May breathed. Misty and Leaf nodded mutely in agreement.

Shrugging, Dawn went back to eating. "Yeah, I caught something. And - May, if you stand up on your chair again, I will tackle you to the ground until you call uncle." She glared at her best friend, who had the nerve to look abashed at her threat.

May raised her hands in defeat. "All right, all right. I won't announce it to the whole school." She scooted forward in her chair, leaning toward Dawn again. "So, what did you catch?"

Smiling slightly, Dawn ate a little more. "It's going to be a surprise. I'll show you in Battle Tactics after lunch."

"Oooh, I like surprises." Leaf wiggled in her seat, twiddling her pencil between her fingers as she checked something on her homework sheet.

"Do I really have to wait until next period to see it?" May whined. She took another bite of her sandwich, "grump" written across her face.

Misty reached across the table and flicked May in the forehead. The younger girl recoiled in her seat, almost dropping her sandwich onto the table. "Hush and be patient. You've tormented the poor girl enough the past couple days. You can wait another half hour."

Dawn giggled while May sulked some more. "Thanks," she mouthed to Misty. The older girl returned with a smile, then proceeded to go back to her lunch.

When the bell for fifth period finally rang, Dawn was a ball of nervous energy once more. She could barely walk straight on her way to deposit her tray to the kitchen and out the door to class, she was so jumpy. _This is it_, she thought as she made her way outside to the gym.

A few years before she'd started at the school they'd converted half of the gym into a battle arena for the battle tactics class after lunch. It was mostly underclassmen who took the class; a majority of the seniors focused more on their studies for graduation, though some found time to take part. Now, as she walked across the school yard to the gym entrance, she touched both Piplup's and Tobasu's Poké Balls, trying to quell the nervous energy to she could also feel coming from her team mates. "All right," she muttered. "Let's do this."

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><p><strong>AN**: Since it took me so long to post this, I decided to make it a little longer than the first chapter. Hope that's okay xD

She caught a Flygon, isn't that nice? :) Also, the name she's given the Flygon, Tobasu, from what my translator says, can mean anywhere from "fly" to "skip". I was going for fly, but oh well.


	3. The Battle

**A/N**: Wow, third chapter already?

Just being nice and uploading this a little (lot) earlier than what I originally planned to. Felt I owed it to those who actually like this story of mine.

I hope everybody liked the second chapter. Again, sorry it took so long! I made the schools a little more like American ones, because that's the only way I really know school buildings. Also, this one's a little shorter than the previous two, I did that on accident ^^;

**Disclaimer: ** I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.****

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><p>"All right, everyone. Line up!" Coach Norman blew his whistle, signalling for everybody to listen.<p>

The underclassmen did as he said, lining up along the line that ringed the battle arena. They stood shoulder to shoulder as Norman walked in front of them, his hands behind his back.

"Today," he said, "we're going to learn about simple practice battles. You're going to be paired by chance today. So, come up and draw a slot so we can begin."

Dawn and May shared an apologetic look. May never saw it as easy when it came to battle tactics class, especially since her father was the teacher when he didn't have a gym class.

As the students went up to the teacher and drew a slot from the box he held, they all stood with nervous energy, just like Dawn. She touched both her Poké Balls, hoping that the thought of her team could help calm her. But it just wasn't working, she kept bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation.

When it came to be her turn, she glanced up at Norman. He smiled kindly at her. She flushed and quickly pulled a slip of paper from the box, hurrying over to where May was standing with her own slip.

"Ugh, he wished me luck when I picked mine." She frowned in the general direction of her father. "I mean, I love my dad and all, but he's just such a _goober_ sometimes, I swear."

Dawn snorted, turning her slip of paper in her hands. There were twenty-four students in her Battle Tactics class, so she had a one in twelve chance of getting May for a partner. _Please let me get May, please, please, please._ Screwing her eyes she, slowly opened it. Daring to open one eye she read the number. Three.

Immediately looking to see if May had the same number, her heart fell when she saw her friend's paper said the number one. "Damn," the brunette cursed. She crumpled the small piece of paper in one hand, stuffing it into her pants' pocket. "I hate when he does this. We never get to be partners when he does."

Dawn sighed, frowning to herself as she looked at her number again. Three. Two numbers off, two letters more than the one she had wanted. Oh well. Guess she'd just have to find her practice partner instead of just moping along with her friend. "How about we go and get back in line to wait? You're up first, so be ready."

Groaning, May realized her friend was right. She reluctantly trudged behind Dawn as they went to stand back on the line of the battle arena while they waited for instructions. Once everybody had drawn, Norman set the box on the bleachers behind the students. He walked back around them with a clipboard in his hand now, writing things down with a lead pencil as he called, "Group number one!"

"Good luck," Dawn whispered to May as she took a deep breath. The brunette nodded to her friend as she and her opponent stepped forward, walking to either side of the arena.

Norman's smile was almost blinding as he looked proudly at his daughter. She fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze, instead focusing on grabbing a Poké Ball and pressing its button. Her opponent, a boy with a shock of dark hair and a goofy grin that Dawn recognized from around the lunch room, stood opposite May.

"You will have five minutes. Ready? Begin!"

"Glaceon, come on out!"

"Pikachu, let's go!"

Both Pokémon stood at the ready for their trainers. On the sidelines, Dawn watched anxiously as May called out the first move. She knew her friend was more for contests, just like she was, but she also knew that she was determined not to lose.

Ice shards covered the battle zone, but Pikachu dodged the ice efficiently. The boy praised his Pokémon quickly, then called out an attack as well, and soon thunder bolts shot across the field toward Glaceon. It dodged with cat-like grace.

It went on like this for the rest of the remaining time they had, both trainers exchanging remarks about how well the other's Pokémon was doing. They seemed to be on pretty good terms, Dawn noticed. Once they'd ran the clock out, Norman called the time, writing down their names on the clip board and checking them off. "Next!" he called.

May and the boy quickly deserted the arena for the next two trainers. They made small talk as May made her way over to Dawn. The blunette watched curiously at how animated she was when she spoke. _Hmm . . ._

"Hey, Dawn! This is Ash." Dawn shook his outstretched hand. "He's a senior this year, same as Misty."

"Oh, you know Misty?"

Whatever thoughts had run through May's head came crashing down. Dawn winced, feeling sorry for her friend as she tried to hide how visibly crestfallen she was. "Y-yeah, she's one of our best friends," she stammered. Her face was flushed, and she was playing with one of her pigtails. Not good.

"How do you know Misty, Ash?" Dawn asked, trying to help cover her friend's embarrassment.

Ash grinned, reaching up to pet Pikachu where he sat on his shoulder. "Oh, we go back all the way to elementary school. I met her right before I caught my first dragon." He took a Poké Ball from his belt, holding it in his palm. "I found a Charmander stranded in the rain one day. I brought it to the nearest center that I could, and once they gave me the okay, I took it home; raised it until it evolved to Charizard." His thumb rubbed the shiny red top of the capsule. "We've had our differences, our fights, but I have full trust in him." He smiled at the Poké Ball before clipping it back to his belt.

"Next!"

The whole they'd been talking, the second battle had gone on between another boy-girl pair. They returned their Pokémon to their Poké Balls, walking off the court to join the rest of the class.

"I guess it's my turn now," Dawn said. The nervous energy was back, and as she reached a comforting hand to Tobasu's Poké Ball, she felt it twitch ever so slightly. "Here, May." She pulled Piplup's ball from her belt, tossing it to her friend. "Let Piplup watch, I promised him he could see our new teammate in action."

May nodded, releasing Piplup from his ball as his trainer walked to her side of the field. The whispers were back as she made her way through her classmates. Again, she ignored them, pulling Tobasu's ball from her belt. _This is it._

The Flygon's ball squirmed in her hand, ready for a fight that was finally going to happen. Once on her side of the field, she held a thumbs-up in the direction of May and Ash, Piplup cheering her on from May's arms. Her twenty other classmates seemed confused. Why wasn't she going to fight with her Piplup? What was in that Poké Ball she was holding? She could hear the shocked whispers; she couldn't help the grin on her face. She felt confident for once, barely able to stand still while she waited for her opponent.

He took his sweet time, walking slowly to his side of the field. A Poké Ball was being tossed up and down with one hand, the other in his pocket. He gave Dawn a bored glance once he was standing on his spot, but it froze her where she stood.

Paul was her opponent. She had no idea how he battled, how well he was trained - but she could tell by the haughty look on his face that he knew he was a good trainer and she was nothing. This spurred Dawn to show him wrong.

"Five minutes. Ready? Begin!"

"Tobasu, spot light!"

"Torterra, standy by."

Tobasu gave a cry when it was released, lighting easily in front of Dawn. Torterra landed heavily on the opposite side of the arena, growling low and threateningly.

There were gasps among the crowd of teenagers. Even Coach Norman looked slightly shocked. Dawn knew they were all surprised, but she'd revel the feeling later. At the moment, she occupied herself with Tobasu's move list. They hadn't gone over it, but she was pretty sure she had an idea of what it knew: The same thing every other Flygon she knew used.

"Tobasu, DragonBreath!"

Tobasu turned its head ever-so-slightly to the side, then blasted a light blue beam in the direction of Paul's Torterra.

"Torterra, Frenzy Plant."

Glowing an almost blinding green, Toreterra reared back on its hind legs, slamming them down to the ground. At the same time, giant spiked roots sprouted in front of it, effectively blocking DragonBreath. The roots didn't stop growing though. After stopping DragonBreath, the spiked roots stretched quickly across the battle field, aiming at Tobasu.

Dawn hesitated a moment longer than she should have. Tobasu looked quickly at her, waiting on her. Gritting her teeth, she finally called, "Dodge, then Hyper Beam!"

Immediately pushing from the ground, Tobasu managed to avoid the deadly roots at the last moment. The Flygon weaved through them as it maneuvered toward Torterra. As it flew, an orange orb formed in its mouth, and, when it was close enough to the Continent Pokémon, let loose the Hyper Beam.

It was bright and loud, making the entire class shade their eyes so they could still see. Torterra was taking the brunt of the attack with its hard head, Tobasu shooting all it was worth through the Hyper Beam.

"Shake it off, Torterra! Use Giga Drain."

The Pokémon did as its trainer commanded. It leaned toward the ground, then moved to the side, deflecting the Hyper Beam and causing it to shoot toward the ground. The three small mountains on the large Pokemon's back glowed green, and almost too quick for the eye, energy-like whips shot from the mountains. They quickly wrapped around Tobasu, dragging the Flygon to the ground.

"Tobasu!" Dawn cried as she watched helplessly while her Pokémon was drained of its energy. "Tobasu! Break free!"

Try as it might, Tobasu was still weak after using Hyper Beam. It struggled weakly against its binds, but the grass move was overpowering the part ground Pokémon. Dawn could feel the prick of tears behind her eyes as she stood there, unable to do anything but watch.

"Time!"

Dawn rushed across the field as soon as Norman called the end of the match. She climbed over the spikey roots that blocked her way, managing to avoid tripping over the turned dirt that made up the arena floor. "Tobasu!" she called, dropping to the ground next to it. Torterra had released the Flygon as soon as Norman had yelled time.

"No, my Tobasu." She cradled her beaten Pokemon's head in her hands, brushing her fingers over its antennae. "I should have known about the grass advantage, I'm so sorry."

"Hmph. You're unfit to raise that Flygon."

Shocked, Dawn looked up to stare at Paul as he stood in front of her. He'd returned his Torterra and was now looking down at her with contempt. He acted like she was nothing but a child, newly raising a hatched Pokémon. "You're both equally weak," he continued, then turned on his heel to walk off the field.

She didn't know what to say. She sat there, looking between her exhausted Flygon and Paul's retreating back. The tears were back, beginning to trail down her cheeks in frustration as she gritted her teeth. A hiccup escaped unwillingly, and she covered her mouth with her arm to hide it. "I never wanted to be a trainer!" she shouted after him.

This seemed to startle him slightly, and he slowly looked over his shoulder at her. Slowly she stood, helping Tobasu up along with her. The look in her eyes was pure determination and antagonism when she glared in his direction. She held Tobasu's head tenderly in her hands as she said, "You say I'm weak. What makes you think you can judge me because of one battle? You don't know me or my Pokémon." Taking one of the Flygon's clawed hands, she led Tobasu off the battle field, toward the bleachers behind her classmates. She kept her shoulders back and her chin high as they parted to make a path for her.

The rest of the class she spent in agitated silence, Tobasu's head resting on her lap as she ran a hand lightly over its antennae. The poor thing was exhausted, drained of almost all its energy because of that Torterra's Giga Drain. She should have known about the grass move, it was something important to have realized sooner. Why, _why_, hadn't she been thinking?

_Just one more class_, she thought. She felt the bleacher sag on either side of her as she was joined by May and Ash. Silently, she leaned her head on May's shoulder, giving Piplup a weak smile. The poor Penguin Pokémon reached a flipper to her face, patting in lightly in consolation. This bit of comfort seemed to be her undoing, the tears returning tenfold, racing down her cheeks as she buried her face in May's shoulder. Sobs racked her small frame as she cried, May's consoling hand rubbing circles on her arm. On her other side, Ash sat uncomfortably, unsure of what he should do. He finally reached over and patted Dawn awkwardly on the shoulder.

When the bell for sixth period rang, the trio lingered until everybody else had cleared the gym. Once the door shut behind the last student, May sat Dawn up as easily as she could, telling her she'd be right back. She left her sitting with Ash, who, now that Dawn had stopped crying, started trying to cheer her up, letting Pikachu show her his funny faces. Dawn's small giggles followed May as she jogged over to where Norman stood checking things off on his clipboard. "Hey, Dad?"

Coach Norman looked up at his daughter, giving her a smile and a one-armed hug. "Hey, kiddo. Shouldn't you be heading to class?"

May glanced over her shoulder at her best friend and most recent friend as they talked quietly to each other. Dawn seemed to be cheering up slightly, and Tobasu was reacting positively to her rise in mood, the Flygon's head raising high enough to nuzzle her cheek. "Yeah, about that." She looked back to her father. "Can you do me a super huge favor, Dad?"

Norman stuck his pencil behind his ear and his clipboard under his arm. "Depends on what it is, kiddo. I can't promise anything too big."

May clasped her hands together, pleading, "Dad, can you please give a pass for Dawn so she can skip next period? She had it rough this period, and Tobasu clearly needs her." His uncertain look made her amp it up another notch. "Please, Daddy?"

For a minute there, she thought he was going to flat out tell her no, get to class. But he surprised her, heaving a sigh and grabbing his clipboard and pencil again. Apparently, the daddy card worked. "What class does she have next?"

"chemistry, then study hall."

Writing the pass quickly, he handed her the note, shooing her off to class. May pecked Norman on the cheek, calling a thank you to her father as she jogged back to Dawn and Ash. The boy was going on about how much his Charizard used to light his hair on fire when he was younger, and Dawn was in better spirits if her laugh was any indication. "Here," May said once she was close enough. "I asked Dad to write this for you so you could get out of chemistry class. Study hall shouldn't be too hard to avoid."

Taking the note from May, Dawn gave her friend a smile, thanking her with it more than words could. She was still slightly shaken up because of class, even if she was laughing at the moment. "Thanks, May." Standing she hugged her friend tightly. Turning back to Tobasu, she helped it up to stand again. "You don't think the faculty will get on to me because I have my Pokémon out, will they? I mean, it's only to Nurse Joy's office."

Ash scoffed as he stood, Pikachu jumping back on to his shoulder. "They shouldn't bother you if I walk you there." Both girls stared quizzically at him. He flushed when he realized how haughty that had sounded. "I-I mean, I think that they wouldn't say anything if I were the one to walk you there."

May raised an eyebrow at him, placing her hands on her hips. "And why's that?"

Now he seemed even more flustered. Waving his hands to put off the notion he was acting big and mighty like it probably seemed, he said, "Um, probably because my mom's the principal?" He made it sound embarrassing.

"_WHAT?_" they both exploded, eyes almost bulging as they stared at him. They winced when Norman yelled for them to get to class. So the three of them gathered their belongings - Dawn leading Tobasu while carrying Piplup - and booked it from the gym. They crossed the school yard back to the main building, making their way quickly through the school toward Nurse Joy's office. The hallways were nearly completely empty by the time they made it to the front of the school where the nurse's office was. On the way they got a few stares. It's not every day you see students walking with their Pokémon in the hallways, especially one that's over six foot.

"Knock, knock," Ash called, sticking his head around the open door frame. "Hey, Nurse Joy."

Sitting at a desk next to the door was the pink-haired nurse, tapping away at her computer. She had reading glasses sitting on her nose, and when she turned to look at the trio they slid down her nose slightly. She pulled them off altogether when she stood, setting them on her desk as she walked over to them. "Hello, Ash. What brings you to the nurse's office today?" Nurse Joy's smile was kind, and there was a lightness in her voice that Dawn and May immediately liked.

"Hi, Nurse Joy?" She looked to Dawn expectantly, obviously noting that the girl was holding her Piplup. "I'm Dawn Hikari, I'm the reason we're here today." She moved to the side so Tobasu could stick its head through the doorway. "I'm sorry if we're bothering you, but could you -"

"Oh my." Dawn fell silent as Nurse Joy made her way to the Flygon. It looked at her curiously, tilting its head in a cat-like way when she stepped between it and Dawn. "I haven't seen a Flygon in a while. I live where they don't usually fly," she explained to the teenagers. "May I?" She was asking Dawn permission to touch Tobasu.

Blinking, Dawn gestured at her Pokémon. "If it's all right with it, it's fine with me."

Nodding, Nurse Joy held a hand out to Tobasu. The dragon leaned its head down to sniff Nurse Joy's outstretched hand. Then, with a growl of approval, pressed its nose against her palm. Laughing slightly, Nurse Joy ran her hand over Tobasu's head, all the way up to its antennae. She stopped at the nick. "Oh my, did this Flygon get into an argument recently?"

The question seemed directed at Dawn, since she was the trainer. Obviously she should have known, but as she thought, she couldn't think of anything that could have caused it recently. "No," she said, frowning. "It was there long before I caught it. I think since I was a kid." Funny, she'd always wondered what had happened to the Flygon as well.

Humming softly in reply, the nurse moved to inspect the other injuries, the most recent ones. Most of them were healing on their own, but there was a cut across Tobasu's shoulder that Dawn had failed to notice. Nurse Joy pointed this out, tutting lightly at the girl. Feeling thoroughly scolded - including embarrassed - Dawn apologized to the nurse. But she just shook her head at Dawn.

"It's not me who you should apologize to, dear. It's your Flygon." Patting Tobasu lightly on the head, Nurse Joy turned and went to open the filing cabinet beside the door. On each drawer was a label stating what they held: Potions in the first drawer, Super Potions in the second, Hyper Potions in the third. It was from the second drawer that she reached for, her arm almost seeming to disappear before re-emerging with the orange spray bottle. "Here, this should do it."

One spritz of it to the cut and it seemed healed almost instantly, right before the teens' eyes. It looked like the medicine in it stung a little, since Tobasu flinched slightly when the spray touched the open wound. They took it as a good sign, though. Once the cut was healed, Tobasu bent its neck back and forth slightly, obviously feeling better.

"It's a good thing to carry these things with you, if something like this happens again. Here." Pulling another Super Potion from the drawer, she handed it to the blunette. "They're easy to find in the store, and relatively cheap."

Nodding, Dawn unzipped the front pocket of her book bag, setting it between her calculator and pencil case. She'd remember Nurse Joy's advice and go to the market later. At the moment though, she touched the spot where the cut had all but healed perfectly. The only evidence that there had been a cut at all was a tiny scar that ran next to Tobasu's right arm. _Another mark for Tobasu to bear_, she thought. The fact that Tobasu had battle scars in general bothered her. Who, or what, had nicked its antennae like that?

_That's something to worry about another day._ "Nurse Joy?"

"Yes, dear?"

Shifting Piplup so she could reach into her back pocket, she pulled out the note that Coach Norman had written for her. This she showed to the nurse. "Coach Norman wrote this out for me. I was a complete mess at the end of our battle tactics class because I was worried about Tobasu, and I was wondering if I could hang around here until last period to make sure that it's okay."

"I could tell you were upset recently." The blunette just looked at her. "Your eyes are still slightly red, dear."

"Oh." Embarrassed, Dawn rubbed her cheek with the heel of her hand. "Yeah, I guess I would still look like I've cried recently, huh?"

Nurse Joy's smile was kind. Taking the note from Dawn, she wrote something on it. Probably making it invalid so it couldn't be used again. While she wrote on it, she glance up at the two extra students in her doorway. "I'm sure this note doesn't apply to all three of you?" The nurse raised a knowing brow at them.

Both May and Ash flushed, immediately apologizing for staying longer than they should have. With quick good byes to Dawn, they hurried off to their respective classes. Fifteen minutes late, but better late than never, no?

"They're going to have some explaining to their teachers when they finally get to class," Nurse Joy joked, leading Dawn to the back of the room where the beds for students were. Dawn smiled tiredly. "Here, you can lay here and rest those tired eyes of yours. I'm sure the both of you could use a time out so late in the school day."

At the mention of a possible nap, a yawn escaped from Dawn. She quickly covered it up, slightly flustered that the nurse knew what she needed before she even did. "Thank you," she said to Nurse Joy, setting her book bag on the floor by one of the beds. Piplup jumped from her arms, already settling down next to the pillow. Lazy penguin, Dawn mused, smiling as she sat down heavily on the cot. She heard more than felt Tobasu settle on the other side of the bed on the floor, and when she look at it she saw it resting its head on the other side of the pillow. Smiling, Dawn pulled off her shoes and laid back on the bed. She was out before her head even hit the pillow.

.

.

.

A shaking awoke her later, how long after she had drifted, she didn't know. Resisting the urge to crawl back to her peaceful dream, she forced her eyes open enough to see who was waking her. It was Nurse Joy, pushing her shoulder lightly to rouse her.

"Dawn, what's your seventh period class?" the nurse asked, smiling her kind smile once more when she saw how tired the blunette really was.

Wracking her groggy brain for the answer, she managed to answer coherently enough - she thought, at least - with "Study hall."

Nodding, Nurse Joy patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sure your advisor would understand. Go back to sleep, dear, I'll wake you before the last bell rings."

Before she'd even finished, Dawn was asleep again, back to her dream land. Nurse Joy smiled and shook her head as she walked back to her desk to work on some documents.

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><p>"Mm! I feel great after that nap!" Dawn stretched her arms above her head, relishing the feeling of how much more relaxed her muscles felt. Her mood was exceptionally lifted as well. There was a lightness to her step that hadn't been there before.<p>

It was after school, and since it was Thursday, they decided to walk home together. Usually, May waited for her dad and went home with him, but today was special. Her best friend had finally caught a dragon Pokémon and battled with it exceptionally. Even though she'd lost, they didn't let damper their good mood.

Laughing, May hitched her book bag further up her back, looking over her shoulder to make sure Glaceon's and all her other Pokemon's Poké Balls were secured. "I'm sure you do. You were out for almost two periods straight, right?"

Shaking her head Dawn said, "Mm-mm. Nurse Joy woke me up once to ask what class I had next. I'm not sure whether I answered or not, but she let me go back to sleep." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "I had no idea I was so tired today."

"Hey, hey." Swinging an arm around her friend's slim shoulders, May pulled her closer, simultaneously matching their steps. "No more thinking. School is over for the day! It's almost the weekend, we should go out and celebrate that you caught yourself a dragon Pokémon after so long!"

Dawn flushed. There had been extra stares earlier when she'd emerged from Nurse Joy's office fully refreshed. She'd had to return Tobasu before leaving to avoid any extra attention. Too late.

The whispers were running frantic throughout the school, apparently, about how the girl who had been deemed hopeless had caught the un-catchable, scarred Flygon. Tobasu hadn't been un-catchable all these years, had it? She had to admit that she had heard of her classmates failing to capture the Pokémon over the years, that it had been ruthless in chasing them away once they'd attempted to engage in battle with it. How did she do it, they were all wondering. How, indeed, she mused dolefully. She was pulled from her thoughts when May suddenly leaned to the side.

Shooting her friend an almost agitated look, she ducked from under May's arm. It'd been a long day, and she had some thinking to do. "Sorry, May. Not today. Maybe tomorrow, Sunday at the latest." Shrugging apologetically at her hurt friend she said, "Long day. Sorry. I'll call you later, okay?" Then she ran off before she could feel any worse for ditching her friend and ruining the good mood.

Back home, she dropped her book bag at the bottom of the stairs, then, taking them two at a time, slipped inside her room once she reached the door. Pulling Piplup's and Tobasu's balls from her belt, she tossed them, releasing the two.

"You two stay put, okay?" She said as she quickly changed her shoes, pulling on a heavier hoodie as she headed for the door. "I'll be back in a little while." Before either could protest, she rushed from her room, slamming the shut behind her. Heaving a heavy sigh, she raced down the stairs again, grabbing her book bag from the floor and pulling her hood over her head when she went back through the front door, locking it behind her. Checking the time on her Pokétch, she set off toward the forest again. "Third time's the charm," she muttered as she jogged toward the ever-welcoming trees she called her second home.

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><p><strong>AN**: Who knows what she's going to do?

**Ooh! Ooh! Me, me!**

Haha, of course I would know. But what do _you_, the readers think she's going to do? Review and let me know, see how many people can get it right :)


	4. The Realizations

**A/N**: It was obvious what she was going to go do, huh? Ah well, it was worth a try lol

It's been a week, and I figured that since I left this story on hold for so long, that I could at least post a chapter so soon after the last update, right? And wow, the number of reviews may be seen as little, but they mean so much to me :)

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.**

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><p>"Topaz!" Dawn called, cupping both hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. "Topaz!"<p>

The forest was silent around her, the chirps of the Chatot and Pidgey above her and her dampened echo the only sound that reached her ears. Small Pokémon scurried from a bush she pushed aside, fleeing quickly from her path. It was becoming a frantic search through the trees as night grew closer.

She'd been searching through every bush and tree that was low enough to hide a wounded Charizard, but a Charizard she did not find, only frightened Rattata and some startled Burmy. Calling for the Pokmon was getting her nowhere, but she didn't know what else to do. She'd already retraced her steps back to where she'd found Topaz after beinging attacked; she looked for the hole in the trees, but it was starting to grow over and become invisible in the advancing twilight.

_This is getting me nowhere_, she thought grimly, crossing the same log she'd vaulted over the other day. Two things happened simultaneously then. First, she managed to crawl over the tree without as much trouble as Wednesday, giving a little whoop of victory, then, almost out of nowhere, she heard a crash right above her.

Shrieking in surprise, she jumped back over the log faster than a Buneary over a bush, right before something large crash into the still-mush dirt and leaves. She'd landed a few feet away from the log, propelled by her fear and surprised. Struggling to an upright position, she crawled slowly back to the log. She was hesitant to see what had caused the crash above and behind her, but curiosity won over anxiety. With the speed of a snail, she peeked over the fallen tree bit by bit, the moss along the trunk soft beneath her palms. When her eyes fell on what it was, they widened in fear.

"Oh my gosh, Topaz!" she gasped. Quickly, she scrambled over the tree, promptly falling on her side but immediately jumping to her feet. She rushed to the Charizard's side, taking in how bruised and battered the poor thing was. Both of its wings appeared to have been worked tirelessly until they were worn ragged - the torn wing was in worse shape than when she'd last seen it. "Topaz, what have you been doing to yourself?" she asked the Pokémon, her voice cracking.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she hovered over the hurt Charizard, beating herself up on the inside when, upon closer inspection, found that the rip in Topaz's wing appeared to be infected. Oh, no, no, no. Struggling to think of something, she remembered the Super Potion Nurse Joy had given her earlier that day. "Super Potion, Super Potion," she chanted as she swung her forgotten book bag off her back, setting it on the forest floor to dig through it. "Which pocket did I put it in again? No, no. Oh, front pocket!" Ripping the zipper open, she grabbed the Super Potion from where it sat in the pouch by her calculator.

"Okay, Topaz." She held the Super Potion spray bottle in one hand, the other running over Topaz's head. Heat was emanating dangerously from the Pokémon. Even if it was firstly a fire type, this wasn't a good type of heat. Rubbing her thumb over the Charizard's forehead, she waited patiently until it slowly opened its eyes.

Definitely not good. Topaz's eyes looked glazed over, obviously because of the fever that was plaguing its body. It had to be because of the infection in its wing. This Super Potion _had_ to at least help Topaz gain enough strength back to fight against the infection.

_Here goes nothing._ "Topaz, I'm going to spray this on your wing. It's going to help you feel a little better, all right?" Slowly she reached for the ripped wing, keeping one eye on it and the other on Topaz's face. With tentative fingers she touched it, the almost-leather-y texture soft beneath her finger pads. Over the changing sounds of Pokémon around them she heard Topaz's breath hiss, sucking in air sharply when her hand came close to the split membrane of the wing. Then the growling started.

"Easy, Topaz. This might sting a little," she murmured. Holding the top of its wing to keep it as still as possible, she grit her teeth and squeezed the bottle's spray trigger.

All Pokémon in the forest within at least a one mile radius fled in terror when Topaz gave a heart wrenching roar. It screamed from the bottom of its lungs at the severe sting of the antiseptic in the Super Potion as it cleaned the wound and healed it at the same time. Topaz growled in both anger and pain, its claws digging deep into the earth as it tried to stay still for Dawn.

_I'm sorry, Topaz_, Dawn thought, worrying her lower lip as she held the split wing together so the Super Potion could heal the rip. But it didn't heal enough. Frowning, Dawn rand her hand over the wing's membrane again, making sure to avoid the the rip that had only slightly knit itself back together. _I can only think of one thing that could heal this_.

"Topaz?" Leaning over her poor Charizard friend, she ran a consoling hand down the length of its neck, the other resting on its forehead again. The fever seemed to be going down, she could barely feel it anymore. _Good._ "Topaz," she tried again, bending even closer to its face.

Clear eyes answered her, the gleam in them back as it growled appreciatively at her. Smiling, she pressed her forehead against the top of Topaz's head. She was feeling so overwhelmed, the tears flowing from her eyes for the second time that day. "Topaz, I'm sorry," she sobbed. "If only I'd gotten through the trees sooner, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I shouldn't have hidden beneath that Charti berry tree." She continued to apologize in her despaired state.

Taking it easy, Topaz slowly lifted it head, causing Dawn to sit up. Sniffling, she let it up, rubbing her eyes free of tears as she watched for what it was going to do. What it did was nothing that she expected: it looked at her briefly, then opened its mouth and dragged its tongue over her cheek.

"Oh, ew, Topaz!" she giggled, wiping away Charizard slobber with the sleeve of her hoodie. But it didn't stop there. Topaz grabbed her, continuing to lick her relentlessly, like a puppy that recently found its master after a long time.

Topaz kept this up for a good two or so minutes, torturing Dawn with natural affection. It was obviously feeling better, most of the bruises along its dark body healed, or at least healed enough that they weren't visible to the naked eye anymore. This was a relief to Dawn, as was when Topaz finally released her, her face covered in Charizard drool.

Using both her sleeves this time, she tried to clean her face as best she could, but there was just so much spit. "I'm going to get you back for that, Topaz," she threatened. But she didn't really mean it. She was just glad that Topaz was able to move around freely again.

When she felt that her face was as dry as it was going to get, she looked shrewdly at her Charizard friend. Just the thought of what her hair looked like kept her from checking, even though she really, really, _really_ wanted to fix it. Topaz chuckled, a choppy growl deep in its throat, obviously enjoying her discomfort. Rolling its eyes when she finally gave in and started searching for a brush, the dragon-like Pokémon lumbered over to the log Dawn had hopped, flopping heavily to the ground.

A high-pitched scream built quickly inside Dawn when she saw her reflection in a compact mirror she pulled from her book bag. "Topaz! I can't believe you. This is going to take forever." Muttering to herself as she started trying to de-slobber her hair, every once in a while glancing at the pleased Charizard, she knew she couldn't stay mad at it. But she could darn well try, she thought, finally managing to run the brush through her hair.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Topaz, it's getting dark." Dawn stood, pulling her book bag straps over her shoulders. Turning to face the Charizard where it still sat leaning against the fallen tree she said, "I need to head back. I'm sure I've worried Piplup and Tobasu enough." Recognition sparked in Topaz's eyes at the mention of the Flygon. It had grown familiar with the name over the years. "I didn't tell you?"<p>

Topaz shook its head.

"I caught Tobasu yesterday. Well," she hedged. "It was more like it let me catch it. There wasn't a fight or anything." She shrugged. "But I preferred it that way."

Chuckling again, the Charizard climbed slowly to its feet. It was still a little wobbly, not every injury on it completely healed. Dawn had been hoping for the Super Potion to help more than it had, but she'd apparently underestimated how strong Topaz really was. _Never judge a book by its cover, I guess_, she mused lightly as she started trying to climb over the log again.

There was a snort, then she was suddenly in the air. She yelped, surprised, but then she was right back on her feet. Looking behind her, she saw Topaz grinning at her. Rolling her eyes and beginning to head through the trees she said, "You are such a cheeky Charizard, I swear."

It answered her with another chuckle. She pointedly ignored it.

.

.

.

Back home, she opened the front door, calling out, "I'm home, Mom." But she was met with silence. "Mom?" She dropped her book bag by the stairs again, looking around the living room for her mother. Not here. "What the . . . ?"

A slip of paper stuck on the refrigerator by a magnet caught her eye. Only reason it did was because it was big and yellow. In the kitchen she could read it:

_Dawn,_

_Went to grocery store, should be back soon. If not by the time you get home, don't worry, you know the car likes to give me trouble sometimes._

_Love, Mom_

Of course she did. Trouble sometimes with the car was an understatement. The blunette plain didn't like the car, she'd never had since she was a kid. It was probably because it had once been her father's, and well . . . They didn't talk about it. They didn't talk about her father period. Before her thoughts got stuck on the subject, a knock at the door grabbed her attention.

"Coming!" she called, setting the note on the counter by the fridge. Tugging her hoodie off as she went, she tossed it onto the dinner table, then turned back to go open the door. She peeked through the peephole first. "Yes?"

It was Barry. He was peering into the eye hole, his image distorted slightly by the lense. "Evening!"

Smiling, she unlocked the door and pulled it open. "Hey, Barry." She shut the door behind him with her foot, following behind him into the living room where he flopped onto the couch. Leaning against the wall beside the fire place, she raised an eyebrow at him. "So, what do you need that can't wait until tomorrow?" She was referring to how late it was getting. "The sun went down long ago."

Long ago was an understatement. It was half past eight - her mom should have been home hours ago if she was just going to the grocery store. Where in the world did she go that kept her from the house for this amount of time. _I hope she didn't get into an accident._ Just the thought of it made Dawn worry her lip in apprehension. Nervousness usually kept her company when her mother drove that piece of scrap metal.

Barry noticed her biting her lip, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "You okay?"

Replacing her lip with her nail, she glanced at her friend. She'd almost forgotten he was there on the couch. How many more times was she going to be rude to her friends today? "Ah, yeah. Mom's just late getting back from grocery store. She's taking forever." Twisting her arm so the screen of her Pokétch was visible, she glanced at the time again. "Forever and a millennia," she muttered.

This was starting to get ridiculous. Johanna had never stayed out this late without a call, at least a text. Didn't she know that Dawn always worried about her when she drove the car?

Covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, Dawn leaned over, supporting her elbows on her knees. The roles of mother and daughter appeared to have been switched for the night, Dawn being the worrying parent. With the back of her hand pressed to her mouth she tried to apologize to Barry, but when she tried to say something, laughter slipped out instead. She wasn't sure when the laughter turned to tears, but the next thing she knew her eyes were wet _again_.

_I did say third time's the charm_, she thought bitterly, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hands. She sniffed, her breath hitching slightly as she slid down the wall to the floor. Break downs were apparently the norm for her today, and she didn't like it.

"Whoa, hey. What's wrong?" Barry jumped from the couch, dropping to the floor beside her. "Dawn, talk to me."

She did anything but, throwing her arms around Barry's middle. The force of this almost sent them both sprawling to the floor; he managed to catch his balance before this could happen. For a moment he didn't know what to do. Girls didn't usually throw themselves at him in fits of anguish. This hadn't even happened when they were kids, so Barry was at a loss of what he should do. He tried what first came to mind, awkwardly patting her on the back. When she didn't say anything, negative or other wise, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her. She responded this time, her hold on him tightening as she continued to sob and effectively ruin his shirt with her tears.

It took a while for her to calm down, her sniffles slowly quieting. Even then tears continued to roll down her cheeks at random intervals, no matter how many times she wiped them away. She sat next to Barry on the couch, curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around her legs as she leaned against her friend. He was used to her mood swings, but not one this violent.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at her, he tapped her upper arm with the hand that hung over her shoulder. He murmured, "Feel any better?"

Sniffing and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she gave a slight nod. Her throat hurt from all her wailing, her eyes from crying so much. She wasn't even completely sure why she was crying, but she knew it involved her mother. Johanna had been so secretive lately, leaving in the middle of the day after work and not reappearing until early evening, some time before dinner. Did she even know how Dawn always worried when she didn't come home till late sometimes? "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm not sure what came over me."

She felt more than saw him shrug, the movement gently bumping her away from him for a moment. He was muttering something under his breath, and when she looked up at him she saw his face was slightly flushed. Just like this afternoon, she realized almost belatedly. When he looked down at her it was gone.

"Don't worry, I've been dealing with your mood swings for a long time, remember?"

She smiled slightly, nodding. Vaguely, she recalled all the times she'd had a tantrum when things didn't go her way; or when she fell and didn't want to move until her mommy came and picked her up, kissing her boo-boos better. Her father had still been around at that time. A memory of him holding her as she drifted off to sleep one night came to mind. Sitting in daddy's lap until her fever went down because of the cold medicine, lullabies being sung to her so she'd fall asleep quickly, mommy pulling back her covers as daddy laid her in bed, and both of them kissing her on her forehead before she was gone. Then it drifted away.

Her head bobbed against his shoulder. The grip she had on her legs was loosening fast, and soon she became completely unraveled, her legs stretching across the couch. She curled slightly against Barry, her head now on his chest, as she began drifting from just the comforting thought of that memory.

All of this startled Barry, his face flaming once more. This had never happened before, he wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. So, he just let her lay there until he felt he should head back home.

.

.

.

It was morning before she woke up, the sun shining through her bedroom window. It slanted across the floor at the end of her bed, warming it as she sat up from under the duvet. Her head was still slightly heavy from all the crying last night. She didn't even remember making it up to her room, only curling against -

_Oh no_, she groaned inwardly. She remembered now, falling asleep on Barry because of how tired and distraught she was the night before. Speaking of which.

Kicking the duvet fully off of her, she crawled off her bed. She didn't watch where she stepped though, ultimately stubbing her toe against her Loudred alarm clock. It proceeded to shriek - loudly - as it took the accident abuse to heart, apparently.

"Stupid clock," she growled, grabbing the infernal device. Opening the window, she made sure to aim for the bushes below before she chucked it from her second-story window. It didn't stop screaming its alarm at her, though. It was only slightly muffled now.

"I hate that thing," she muttered as she headed for her door. She was still dressed in her clothes from yesterday, sans her shoes, but she didn't really care. Stripping off her top shirt she tossed it into the hamper before heading downstairs.

It was the same as yesterday. Johanna was at the kitchen counter making breakfast, the smell of bacon lingering in the air. She was nursing a mug of coffee, Tobasu was lounging against the breakfast bar. Its head rested against the countertop as it watched her cook. Piplup was sitting at the table eating a Poffin from the basket they kept on the counter.

"Morning, Mom."

Johanna glanced up from making breakfast. Her hair was pulled back from her face with multiple hair clips, and Dawn noticed the dark circles that had formed under her eyes. They looked like bruises to her. Now she was worried that her mother wasn't getting enough sleep. "Good morning, Dawn. Scrambled eggs or sunny-side up?"

Deciding to hold her tongue, Dawn sat down next to Piplup at the table. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tobasu push away from the breakfast bar to come sit behind her chair. It wound its head around her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Dawn giggled a bit, brushing the Flygon's head with her hand. "Scrambled, please." Just like every morning.

After breakfast she got ready for school. She'd slept later than usual so she had to skip the shower. Dressed in what would've been considered record time, she grabbed her jacket from the floor, clipped her Poké Balls to her belt, and raced out the door. She kissed Johanna on the cheek and called good-bye to her, Tobasu and Piplup trailing in her wake.

She hurried to school, her Pokémon right beside her as she jogged along the side walk. They were all silent as they ran, Piplup waddling as fast as his little feet could take him, Tobasu gliding above them. She made it through the school gates before the teacher standing there waiting could shut them. It felt like their eyes followed her the entire time she walked across the school yard, like they were just wishing to mark her as tardy. _It's the same thing every day_, she glared at the teacher, returning her Pokémon and scurrying into the school when they held up their clipboard.

The day passed much like yesterday - she paid attention in contest class more though. Lunch time was the same as well, though the cafeteria was still buzzing over her catching Tobasu and using it during battle tactics the day before. Sitting across from May again Dawn pulled her lunch from her bag. Johanna had somehow made it earlier that morning, probably while Dawn was still asleep. _Mm, PB and J_, she thought as she took a bite of the sandwich.

May was unusually quiet today, poking at her salad with a fork silently. Dawn hoped she wasn't upset over her abruptness yesterday on the way home. She hadn't spoken to Dawn in either of the two classes they had together; this had thrown Ash for a loop. The blunette felt bad, but she wasn't exactly sure what she could say to apologize to her friend. Sorry, I needed to run before I broke down from the tension?

She was saved when Leaf sat beside her, Misty by May. Her older brunette friend almost tipped her tray's contents onto the table, her Jell-O wiggling ominously on its Styrofoam plate. Dawn eyed it warily as Leaf pushed her hair away from her face. "I wonder if that's really even edible," she commented.

Leaning forward, Leaf picked up her fork and poked at the gelatin. It jiggled slightly when the tines touched it. "I don't think I'm really willing to try it. You want to?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow at her friend, taking another bite of her sandwich. "You know how much I hate school food. I was unlucky enough to forget my lunch yesterday." She pulled at the bread crust as she chewed, glancing up at May and Misty as they talked. The older girls were talking about something that involved mixing berries in a Poké Ball then tossing it in a microwave. This seemed like something impossible and probably unlikely to work. Dawn shared an amused look with Leaf.

Leaf leaned across the table to steal a grape from Misty's tray. "I should have gotten these instead of this Jell-O. I think it's plotting something against me, it looks that evil," she said, popping the round fruit into her mouth. "I usually prefer fruit to gelatin."

The two across the table paused long enough to look up. May looked almost as tired as Johanna had this morning. This made Dawn feel even worse than earlier, her heart feeling like it was being squeezed tightly behind her sternum. She knew that when her brunette friend glanced at her, she could see the pitiful look on her face. A confused look crossed her face for a moment, then she sighed. Pushing her bangs away from her eyes she leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she said, "Leaf, you'll eat just about anything so long as it's edible."

Scoffing, Leaf snatched another grape before Misty could stop her. Popping it into her mouth like the last, she grinned at her friends. "I won't eat _everything_, you know. I prefer something sweet or sour, rarely salty, even more rare, bitter. The last one I can make an exception to, if it taste good enough to me."

Giving a small laugh, Misty leaned back in her seat. She grabbed a grape for herself and said, "I highly doubt that, Ms. Green."

May, Dawn, and Leaf all laughed. They went back to eating and talking, the mood between them lightening with every word they shared. More food was snatched by Leaf's sneaky hands, Dawn offered her opinion on May's idea to microwave mixed berries. She figured that could be a unique way of creating Poffins. They busted into a fit of laughter when Leaf offered the idea of sticking Pokémon food into the mix, to give it more flavor.

They were interrupted when someone stepped up to their table. May managed to pause laughing long enough to notice, glancing up and saying, "Ah, Ash. What brings you over from the third-year's table?"

Ash smiled at them, waving off her question. "Nothin'. Look, I've got someone here who needs to say something to you." Behind him someone was obviously standing, and he pulled them forward. They didn't go quietly.

"Let go of me, you idiot!"

The girls' eyes widened when they saw it was Paul. The third-year was holding the first-year by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stand there. He was squirming, trying to free himself from Ash's grasp, but the senior kept his grip.

"Apologize!" Ash demanded. He usually wasn't forceful with most things, at least from what Dawn had learned from speaking with him in class yesterday.

"What for? I didn't do anything wrong." Paul appeared to be seething. He probably didn't like to be man-handled the way Ash was doing then. His face was a livid red, almost darker than his hair.

_What an attitude._ It was starting to get on Dawn's nerves. Placing her hands flat on the table, Dawn pushed against its surface until she stood facing him. Since she was at the end of the table, she was right in front of him. Standing her tallest, her shoulders pushed back, she looked him square in the eye and said, "What part of yesterday makes you think what you said to me was correct? Do you know what the words 'to feel' even mean?" She folded her arms across her chest in obvious agitation, a spark in her eyes as she glared openly at him. Shocked silence greeted her. Her friends couldn't believe she'd talked like that to somebody. Usually, she was such a sweet, quiet girl. But today she was angry and biting apparently.

Recovering finally, Paul managed to shake Ash's hand off, taking advantage of his stunned, slack grip. He readjusted his shirt, tugging his collar back to its proper place around his neck instead of pulled up at his ears. He glared daggers at her, but the corner of his mouth tilted in slight amusement, betraying his humor. "I know as much as I need to. There's no real meaning for feelings though, they just get in the way most of the time."

His words made her twitch almost visibly, but she managed to dig her nails into her arms to hide it. She gritted her teeth though, managing to grind out, "Is that so? I hadn't noticed, even with your blatant lack of empathy, towards myself or anybody else."

One of his eyebrows jumped to his hairline, the smirk on his face seeming almost fake now. Dawn narrowed her eyes at him. _Something's off._

"Really. How much have you been watching me to notice that, Miss Troublesome?"

Face flushing in both humiliation and indignation, her hands grasped her forearms in a death grip. Everyone at the table gaped at them. The cafeteria around them had slowly gone quiet as everybody started to notice their argument.

_How dare he!_ she mentally fumed. Had it been possible, steam would have burst from her ears, she was that angry. "Who says I've been watching you?" she growled. "Maybe I've just been looking out for what I should avoid in a person; or maybe just you in general."

There was a chorus of _oohs_ around the lunchroom. May and Misty glanced around nervously. Paul may have been male, but that probably wouldn't have stopped Dawn from trying to claw his eyes out in front of the entire school student body. "Psst," Misty hissed, reaching across the table to tug on the edge of Dawn's shirt. "Maybe you guys should wrap this up? You're starting to attract an audience."

Eyes glancing quickly down at her friend, Dawn debated in her head about whether the school cafeteria was really the place to argue with Paul. Cons outweighing the pros by a great deal, she decided that her red-headed friend was right. "Fine," she huffed. Taking a step closer to Paul, she raised a hand, pointing a finger straight at his chest and saying, "How about we have a battle next Saturday, see who's 'unfit' to raise their Pokémon." Lowering her hand, she took a step back again, holding it out toward him. "Deal?"

He gazed at her for a moment, seeming to think this over in his head. Dawn swore she could just hear the gears turning in his head. The whole cafeteria was silent, waiting for his answer.

"Deal." He smirked at her, grasping her hand tightly in his. Squeezing it for extra measure, he dropped her hand and turned on his heel. Shooting a glare at Ash over his shoulder he walked away, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he went. Ash mumbled an apology to the girls, skittering off after the first-year, calling his name.

For a couple minutes, Dawn stared after them, her hand still held midair. She just stood there, frozen. May, Misty, and Leaf all shared a glance. With a nod of her head, Leaf got to her feet to stand next to Dawn. The older girl waved a hand in front of the blunette's face, softly calling her name. Dawn seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in, her eyes blinking rapidly and her face flushing almost unconsciously. Her hands fluttered to her face, pressing lightly at her cheeks as she flopped ungracefully into her chair. It scraped across the floor loudly.

"Dawn?"

She jumped slightly, pushing her bangs back from her hot face. She looked at her worried friends. "Yeah?"

"You okay, girl?" Misty leaned across the table again, reaching a hand to her friend's forehead. She pulled back immediately. "Man, you're burning up! Should we take you to the nurse?"

"No, no. I'm okay." Pressing the backs of her hands to her eyes, she took a deep breath. Her heart was thudding in her ears for some reason. Why was it beating so hard? What did it mean. She groaned inwardly. There could only be one reason. Out loud she said, "I was out for two class periods at Nurse Joy's yesterday; I can't skip again today." _Even though I want to_, she added mentally. She sighed. "How close is it to fifth period?"

Leaf glanced at the clock above the cafeteria's entryway. "About ten minutes. Why?"

Sighing once more, Dawn pushed herself to her feet. She pushed her hair back once more, grabbed her bag from the floor, and started to make her way toward the doors. "I need to go wash my face. I'll see you guys later." That being said, she started across the cafeteria floor, waving her hand over her shoulder as she walked away. Eyes of the other cafeteria goers followed her the entire way. It felt as if they were trying to bore holes into her head. She kept her eyes forward though, refusing to look anywhere else but straight. Not even back at her worried friends.

She set her course for the girl's bathroom near the lunchroom. Her steps were quick, intending to get there as fast as she could without running. Tears pricked her eyes for some reason. She tried to blink them away, and when this was unsuccessful, she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle the sob that accompanied them.

Once she'd managed to reach the lady's room, she pushed open the door with her shoulder and booked immediately for the bigger end stall. Dropping her bag behind the door, she fell against the stone wall. Sky blue may have been a calming color, but Dawn felt anything but at the moment. She sank slowly to the floor. Both her hands were pressed against her mouth now, hiccuping slightly as she leaned her forehead against her knees. Her thoughts were erratic inside her mind, trying to figure out _why the heck she was crying in the girl's bathroom_.

What the heck is wrong with me, she sobbed inwardly. She cursed herself for being over-emotional, fisting her hands against her eyes in self-agitation. Her thought from earlier came back, making her groan out loud this time. It's only been, what, two days since I met him, she berated herself. Why? Why, why, why, _why_?

There was no reasoning with herself.

_Do I . . . like Paul?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: And so the shipping begins.

Lol I was wondering myself when it would get to this point. I actually had to split this chapter with the next because it was getting so much longer than the previous ones. Also, if somehow nobody noticed, Dawn's kind of an emotional wreck in this fic. Who wouldn't be with all the teasing and taunting she went through? I know I'd be :/

Working on the fifth chapter now, will post as soon as I finish the sixth one.


	5. The Fire

**A/N**: Hmm, well this has been sitting on my laptop for about a week or so now, so I figured that I might as well post it.

****Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.****

* * *

><p>"Tobasu, Steel Wing!"<p>

The wings on the Flygon's back glowed an iridescent white. Tobasu launched itself at the fallen log in front of them, blocking their path. Rolling immediately over once it was above it, Tobasu struck it. It splintered into tiny pieces, falling around them to the forest floor.

"Good job," Dawn congratulated, stepping over the remains of what used to be the fallen tree. She smiled at her Pokémon, reaching up to pet its head.

It was a few days later, Dawn pushing herself through the forest with her team to rid her mind of the other day. After she'd sulked out of the bathroom puffy-eyed, she'd had to rush off to class to make it on time. She'd made it before the bell, but whatever questions May and Ash asked her were ignored. She didn't look at Paul once.

Now she and Tobasu were making their way through the trees to train. They were trying to avoid the prying eyes of her nosy neighbors, who hadn't stopped staring at her since the day she'd caught the Flygon. It was starting to get on her nerves. For the moment, though, she pushed those thoughts away, instead making sure a stray tree branch didn't smack her in the face as she let Piplup waddle in front of her. The little penguin had been looking forward to this for the past few days. Dawn had kept him home so he'd behave, but this time he'd managed to chase after her when she'd attempted to run off with Tobasu that afternoon.

They'd been at it all weekend and Monday, immediately making their way to the forest when it was early afternoon, or like on the weekday, right after school. Dawn had managed to leave Piplup at home the past three or so days, but she'd been unable to avoid it this time. So she just let him scamper in front of her, wobbling over the dirt floor on his small feet.

Dawn felt that their training was working - Tobasu was growing even stronger, its attacks more precise and timed close enough to catch an enemy off guard, given the chance. It could destroy a tree now with its Steel Wing attack; it'd barely managed to even chop it down before. Just what had made this Pokémon so formidable that it refused to be captured? Shaking her head, she cleared her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for that. "Here, Tobasu, let's go this way." She ducked under an Oran Berry tree branch, motioning with her hand for them to follow her.

On the other side sat a clearing, Stantler and Sawsbuck roamed around in the tall grass. Their antlers rose high over the grass when they heard Dawn and company shuffling through the leaves on the opposite side of the meadow from where they stood. A few Deerling and young Stantler popped their heads above the grass when the adults nudged them gently from behind. Most went with their mothers, but one particular Deerling managed to jump away from the herd. It bounded in the small group's direction, hopping through the grass as easily as a Buneary. It came to a graceful stop before them.

Dawn took a step back. It was well known to never mess with the young of a Sawsbuck. Glancing nervously back at the herd, she could see a single Sawsbuck moving slowly toward them. Had to have been the mother. The grace of the creature both perturbed and awed Dawn. Tobasu growled low in its throat as it grew closer.

Once the great Pokémon stood before her she immediately looked down. The Sawsbuck stopped right behind the young Deerling that was looking up at her with such playful eyes. Twiddling her thumbs and stuttering, Dawn slowly lifted her eyes to finally look up at the majestic animal. It was gazing at her with such kind eyes, its large antlers shedding leaves as it tilted its head to the side.

"H-hello," Dawn muttered, pushing her hair away from her face. The fallen leaves swirled around her face in the breeze that blew around them, rustling the grass around them and the tree branches above.

She wasn't sure if she'd heard right, but Dawn swore she could hear a slight chuckle coming from the mother. Maybe it had just been the wind. Swallowing, she took a small step forward. She looked up at the Sawsbuck anxiously. It took a step back, lowering its head to nudge its offspring a little closer.

_I never knew they were this trusting_, she thought, new appreciation for the Season Pokémon running through her. Wiping the sweat from her hand on her pants, Dawn leaned forward, balancing herself with a hand on her thigh. Slowly she reached toward the Deerling, smiling slightly when it stretched its head closer, obviously eager.

Then there was an explosion. It had come from behind Dawn, back in the trees. It startled all of them, the baby Deerling shivering on its small legs in fear. Dawn glanced between the scared Deerling and its mother. Gently pushing the fawn, she looked at the Sawsbuck. It inclined its head to her before nudging the Deerling away. It looked over its shoulder as its mother forced it to rejoin the herd that was waiting in apprehension on the other side of the meadow.

Cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice, Dawn called, "I'll come back to play some time!" This seemed to reassure the Deerling, allowing it to turn and bound after its mother back to their family. Knowing that they made it back safely comforted the blunette; she took off running into the forest the moment they disappeared, Tobasu and Piplup trailing her.

.

.

.

_It was somewhere around here, I think._ She'd been running around the forest for what felt like hours but was probably only about fifteen or so minutes. Explosions had led her to where she stood, the sound of the last one still ringing in her ears. The dirt at her feet was overturned and charred, great holes marring the ground. There were probably dozens of them, all possibly created by the same thing. _What the heck is going on?_

A large _boom_ to her left alarmed her. Startled Pidgey sprang from their perches in the trees, taking off in the opposite direction of the explosion. Before the echo of it could die, Dawn zigzagged her way around the holes in the ground, intending to finally find out what was making the loud explosions. Trees had fallen over, their trunks burned and brittle to the touch. One disintegrated right beneath her fingers as she ran them over the injured wood. Fingers curling against the charred trunk, Dawn gritted her teeth in anger. Whoever was doing this was steadily destroying the forest. This place was Dawn's second home, her sanctuary from prying eyes. Nobody was going to take that away from her. With new determination, she stepped around the dead plants and rushed on.

It took her only moments to find the source. With every running step she took, explosions sounded, roaring her ears each time louder and louder as she grew closer. She was just stumbling over a Cheri tree that was broken in half, its fruit spilled across the forest floor, when she felt an intense heat immediately surround her. Looking up, she managed to see the Flamethrower, heading straight for her face. She ducked just in time, the mighty column of flame shooting right above her. It blazed on into the trees, probably lighting some on fire. At the moment she didn't want to know.

Standing with shaky legs, she looked before her at the destruction of her beloved forest - trees were fallen in greater numbers here, their trunks burned and blazing; the small Pokémon who dwelled in the trees and under bushes were scattering from where they'd been holed up, many of them scuttling by her in their hurry to escape. Dawn yelled for Piplup, relieved when she saw that he hadn't run off along with the wild Pokémon, calling for the largest Hydro Pump he could whip up. Piplup nodded, opening his beak to immediately release the water attack, beginning to douse the fire around them. Dawn looked over her shoulder for Flygon, seeing the Mystic Pokémon already spinning a small sandstorm with its wings. In the middle of all this, through the growing smoke and hazy heat, Dawn shielded her eyes. Through the still-lingering flames, she swore she could make out two forms. She knew at least one of them was a Pokémon, since that was the only thing that could have made a Flamethrower like that. Narrowing her eyes, she managed to move closer, watching as the figures seemed to almost dance as they circled each other. But then one pounced on the other, attacking it viciously. When she heard the roar of pain over the fire's own deafening crackling, her eyes widened in recognition.

"_Topaz!_" Dawn screamed. Ignoring the pain that lashed across her arms, she pushed through the flames that blocked her path. The fire wasn't as great as it had been when she'd first arrived, and with the help of her Pokémon it was slowly, but surely, being beaten; but it was steadily growing again as the battle before her raged on, resisting being put out. Dawn grit her teeth as she stepped over the already crushed terrain, soot that had already coated her skin and clothes trying to weigh her down. But she pushed on.

Almost right in front of her, the flame on Topaz's tail blazed to what seemed like over a story high, blending in with the burning background behind it. A ferocious expression was worn on its face, baring its fangs and claws in anger at its opponent. Managing to see through the smoke, Dawn could make out the form of what appeared to be a Gabite. It was wounded, one of its fins bent at a dangerous angle, possibly broken. Holding its wounded arm with the other, it was looking around, not at the burning trees that surrounded them, but as if for somebody. Finally being able to push through the smoke and scorching heat, Dawn stumbled up beside the Gabite. From afar it had appeared vicious, but now that she'd gotten a closer look she saw how worried it was. It paid her no mind, its eyes searching through the smoke, crying out every few seconds.

She finally realized what it was doing. "Do you have a trainer?" she called over the roar of the fire. At last it noticed her, looking up at her with its yellow eyes frantic, bobbing its head up and down in confirmation. Dawn grit her teeth and set to helping the poor thing. She started moving around the cleared area, calling whatever she could think of that would make a trainer come running. The fire must have scared anybody close off, though, because nothing but the dying fire answered her.

Coughing up ash, she looked over her shoulder to where Topaz was still standing. It was eerily still, almost like a statue, staring down at the ground intensely. _Topaz?_ Dawn stepped over an ashen tree, one of few that had managed to make it through the blaze. The toe of her shoe caught on the trunk, sending her flying forward. Pin wheeling her arms in a lame attempt, she fell anyway. She landed almost right beside Topaz, soot and ash exploding around her in a cloud. It coated her from head to foot, now, as if the layer she was already covered with wasn't good enough. She really hated Mother Nature at the moment.

Slowly she sat up, trying her best to rub the ash out of her eyes. It only made a bigger smudge on her face. She blinked her eyes, managing to get the worst of it out of them on their own. Some still stuck to her lashes though; her hand hadn't been necessary at all. With shaky legs she stood. She supported her upper body on her legs, her fingers splayed over her ruined jeans. _Mom's going to kill me_ was the one thing that ran through her head when she saw the condition of her clothes. She pushed that aside though, moving her hair away from her face so she could see what Topaz was staring at. On the ground before them lay a person. They had the physique of a male, with scruffy hair that covered their sooty face. She wasn't exactly sure of who it was, but Topaz obviously knew them, though not on good terms apparently.

"Topaz, who is this?" She made to take a step toward the unconscious person at their feet, but Topaz flung an arm in front of her, ultimately stopping her. Her brow knit in confusion. "Topaz?" Dawn gripped the Charizard's clawed hand. It was trembling ever so slightly. "Topaz, who is this?" she demanded.

In response, it unfurled its wings above them. The sudden rush of air sent any soot at their feet away in a billowing cloud. Dawn could hear Tobasu and Piplup coughing as they were covered in it. The Gabite in front of her kept squawking, flapping its uninjured arm like a bird. If she hadn't been standing next to the much larger Topaz, she was sure it would have attacked her. Something clicked in her head then. "Is this your trainer?" she asked the irritated Gabite. It frantically nodded its head, glaring and squawking at her again.

"Topaz." It didn't look at her, its blood red eyes still staring down at the unconscious trainer. "_Topaz_," she said, with more force this time. It finally glanced at her out of the corner of its eye. Its pupils were contracted to slits, giving them the a cat-like appearance This disturbed Dawn to no end. She'd rarely seen her friend like this. "Topaz," she tried again, "this boy is that Gabite's trainer, you can't harm them."

It growled at her, showing how much it thought of her words. Topaz tore its hand from hers, flicking its tail in an annoyed manner, obviously finished listening. Baring its teeth once more, Dawn could just make out the beginning of a Flamethrower. Her eyes widened in surprise and horror. Her Topaz, _purposely harming someone, knowing that it was wrong?_ No, she wasn't going to stand for this.

Before it could stop her again, she rushed under its arm, spinning to face her friend. She spread her arms, planting her feet on either side of the other trainer's waist. Since they were covered in so much soot she wasn't sure who it was, but she was able to make out the movement of their breathing. Glancing quickly back to Topaz, she found that it had stopped its attack, the Flamethrower dying in its throat. Growling at her once more, it scowled at her. She frowned. "Topaz, this isn't like you. Why would you want to attack a defenseless person like that? If you had used that Flamethrower, you could have seriously harmed him!"

The Gabite squawked in agreement behind her. Knowing that it was still there made her slightly nervous - she wasn't sure whether the Pokémon would help her if Topaz did something drastic, or if it would attack her itself. She swallowed the lump in her throat, steeling her courage. If it did attack, she'd deal with that then.

Around them the fire was slowly shrinking, sizzling as Tobasu and Piplup finally managed to douse the inferno. They were both exhausted, Tobasu sweating profusely and Piplup wheezing. Neither would know how grateful Dawn was to have them. Both moved to her side, Tobasu rubbing her cheek with the top of its head in worry. "I'm fine," she murmured, touching both of her ash-covered Pokémon.

A noise at her feet startled them all. Dawn whipped around, moving to stand by the unknown trainer on the ground, who was, as a matter of fact, waking up. He coughed multiple times, a deep sound that seemed to be pulled from low in his lungs. Dawn dropped to her knees next to him and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at his face. But the ash made it impossible to recognize him. When he looked up at her though, there was something about his eyes . . .

"Are you all right?" She could just feel her face flaming a deep red. She looked at anywhere but his eyes - they were so piercing, as if he could see right through her. "Can you speak?"

He opened his mouth, but only began to cough again. Pressing the back of his hand to his mouth, he leaned to the side as he tried to get all the ash and soot out that he'd inhaled. Dawn's hands fluttered to her face as she tried to think of what to do. She glanced at her Piplup, but the poor thing was so exhausted, having used all of its internal water supply; Tobasu looked like it was ready to collapse as well. An idea popped into her head. Stumbling to her feet, she told her Pokémon that she'd be right back. She gave Topaz a warning about hurting the trainer - it held its clawed hands up as if to say _Yeah, yeah, whatever._ She rolled her eyes as she ran off.

_No. No. No, not here either._ Pushing aside burned branch after burned branch, she searched throughout the forest for something salvageable. She was actually looking for one thing in particular: an Oran Berry. She'd learned in battle tactics that an Oran Berry could be a Pokémon's best friend when it came for energy restoration. Figuring in the exhaustion that the two were feeling, and how much they'd used their moves, they had earned something to pick up their spirits again. _I'll make them some freshly baked Poffins when we get home_, she promised. She smiled slightly, pushing back to her feet as she continued to search.

Finally, when it seemed like she had inspected nearly every inch of the nearby bushes, she struck gold. Lying in small bushels beneath the protective branch of a fallen comrade, she found a patch of Oran Berries, all ripe for the picking. _Awesome!_ She picked as many as she could, being careful not to drop or smash them as she headed back to the small group. When she arrived back though, she stumbled to a stop, dropping about half of her bounty.

Topaz was arguing violently with the Gabite, each of them spurting small flames now and then from their mouths. The Gabite's trainer was just leaning against a semi-safe tree, looking on disdainfully as the dragon Pokémon fought. Tobasu and Piplup could only sit by and watch, the Flygon lying on its side, Piplup leaning against the crook of its neck.

"What did I tell you guys!" she cried, her eyes screwed shut in fury.

Everything stopped at once: Topaz and Gabite looked at her, startled into silence; Tobasu lifted its head wearily in the general direction of her voice, Piplup just sitting there with its eyes shut; the trainer stared at her from under his bangs across the small clearing. He regarded her in a bored way, raising a hand to his mouth when he started coughing again.

"I leave for what, not even ten minutes, and all hell breaks loose? What is wrong with you two?" she demanded of Topaz and the Gabite. They had the gall to look ashamed and sheepish. "And you!" She turned to the boy. "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of this Gabite? Look at how it's hurt for goodness sake!" She marched toward the two dragons, scowling when they flinched.

"Here." She thrust a couple Oran Berries to them both. They had scratches all over them, and Gabite's arm looked like it could use a good heal at a center soon. She turned to her Pokémon. "Tobasu," she called. Tossing an Oran Berry, the Flygon caught it in its mouth. It chewed appreciatively, growling in affection as it nudged Piplup awake. He blinked his eyes wearily, rubbing them with his flippers. "Here you go Piplup." Dawn handed the berry to the little penguin, watching him to make sure he finished the whole thing.

Once the berries were passed around to all, even the boy, Dawn breathed a heavy sigh. Topaz had seemed to calm down, the flame on its tail back to normal size at it shared a growled conversation with the other dragon. Shaking her head, she wondered why it couldn't have been that way in the beginning, why they were even fighting.

_Everything is just full of mysteries these days_. She grimaced as she walked toward the boy. He hadn't eaten his Oran Berry like she thought he had. Instead he was turning it in his hand slowly, looking at it from every angle. He didn't look up as she approached. "Aren't you going to eat that?" Munching on her own berry, she crouched in front of him.

Looking at her disdainfully from under his bangs, he grimaced at the berry.

"I wonder if the smoke hurt your throat. I've heard inhalation of it can do that to a person," Dawn mused aloud. A memory of health class in middle school came to mind, her teacher going on about how the smoke irritated the lining of your trachea after breathing it in. Chewing slowly as she thought, she tipped her eyes back to the boy.

He was staring at her, an almost quizzical look in his dark eyes. Eyes that looked so familiar. Shaking her head before she went down that road again, she popped the rest of the berry into her mouth. She pushed to her feet as she swallowed. Rubbing her arm across her mouth, grimacing once she remembered how dirty she was, she shuddered. "I could use a shower. What say you?"

More staring.

Okay, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to ask him. He probably thought she wanted to bathe with him now, especially with how vague she'd been about it. Sighing, she ruffled her hair with her hands, a cloud of soot ballooning around her head. Realizing how it puffed around her, she laughed. It felt good. The boy even smirked a little.

"Okay, let me rephrase that." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Would it be all right with you if we took separate showers at my house, since it's close to the edge of the forest? Because I could really use one right about now."

This time his reaction was more animated. He smiled ever so slightly, pushing himself slowly to his feet. From his belt he pulled off what was more than likely Gabite's Poké Ball. There were at least two more, the most Dawn had really seen somebody carrying with them at a time. Usually, a majority of a trainer's Pokémon were left at home, besides a select few, when one went out. Pointing the capsule at the rejuvenated Pokémon, he returned it, then clipped the ball back to his belt. He nodded at her, showing he was ready when she was. Dawn turned while he was in the process of tugging off the jacket he was wearing; soot fell in small bunches as he shook it out. She returned her own Pokémon, glad that they were feeling better. When they were back in their balls she -

_Crack!_

Looking up, she saw the limb break away from the trunk seconds before it fell. Her eyes widened, almost exactly like when that motorcycle had been racing toward her the week before. She stood frozen, her feet refusing to move. Then she felt a hard tug on her arm. She flew forward, falling heavily into the boy's waiting arms. They fell back as the limb fell, crashing to ground right where Dawn had stood.

The cloud of ash settled slowly around the large limb, layering the ground unevenly. Dawn clutched the boy's shirt tightly between her fingers. Adrenaline coursed through her, her heart rate spiked in fear. That could have been her, she wondered numbly, staring blankly at the broken limb. That could have been _her head_, _smashed on the ground like a broken apple_. She blinked a couple of times, shocked beyond words. Without even caring about the soot that covered part of his shirt front, she turned and buried her face in the fabric, feeling tears come to her eyes. She sobbed silently into his shirt, unable to hold them back.

It was obvious that he felt awkward about her being practically on top of him, crying her eyes out. He sat on the ground, stiff as a board. When he hesitantly touched her shoulder she hiccupped. This startled him, but her grip on him didn't waver; instead it tightened. She tried to get a hold of herself, even wiping her eyes on the clean part of his shirt to smudge away the lines the tears tracked down her face. Daring a glance up at him, she saw how uncomfortable he was. Through the soot she could barely make out a blush across his cheeks. Laughing softly, she sat back and used the inside of her shirt collar to dry her eyes. "Sorry." She explained, "Rough few days."

He raised an eyebrow at her. Again it hit her, that feeling of familiarity. It was so strong, tugging at something at the back of her mind. Maybe . . . Biting her lip, she reached forward, rustling his hair to get rid of the soot. He flinched under her touch, but didn't stop her. Soon she could make out a hair color beneath the cold cinders, an almost violet popping out against the black soot -

It couldn't be. She pulled back immediately, falling ungracefully into the blanket of soot behind her. _You're kidding me._ She stared at him, noting how he finally reached up to brush away the rest of the soot from his hair. Silence spread awkwardly between them as he grabbed his jacket. Dawn sat there, mortified, her hands pressed against her face to hide how furiously she was blushing. Paul stood slowly, glancing down at her. It seemed as if he were debating something in his head, because he breathed a deep sigh. Then he held a hand out to her.

Everything seemed to be repeating itself. The first night she'd met him he'd helped her off the ground, even pointing out the town for her in the growing darkness; he'd pulled her out of the way of a motorcycle before she'd been run down just last week. For some reason, it seemed that he was saving her a lot lately.

Debating in her head whether she should go with him - she'd really only known him for a few days, yet already offered him a shower at her house - but before she could really decide what to do, he reached down and caught her upper arm. Pulling her to her feet almost too easily, he frowned at her. His eyes glanced almost warily over her shoulder. She turned to see Topaz eyeing them from where it sat in its circle of dispersed soot. It had been quiet for such a long time that she'd almost forgotten it was there. Now, seeing that she was okay, the Charizard stood, turning and heading off into the trees that were still among the living. It glanced over its shoulder once, smoke puffing from its nostrils, before disappearing into the shadows of the foliage.

Dawn stood watching after her old friend, her hair moving gently in the breeze that blew around her and Paul. Soot lifted into the air as the wind carried it off to another area, over the trees and away on the sudden air current. Maybe the flakes of ash would travel across the forest toward the mountains. Maybe it would help trees elsewhere grow beautifully, she mused, a slight smile on her face.

Glancing out the corner of her eye, she saw Paul trying to wipe the worst of the ash from his face. She vaguely wondered if he'd delayed trying to clean his face because he didn't want her to know it was him. _Nonsense_, she berated herself. What reason could he possibly have for that? For the moment she pushed the thought away, giving a slight sigh. When she'd noticed that he'd walked away, he was already across the small cleared area, his jacket thrown over his shoulder and his hand shoved in pockets like he always had them. He hadn't even waited on her! She rushed to catch up with him, nearly tripping over twisted roots that had been revealed in the small fire.

* * *

><p>The hallway was quiet as Dawn padded silently to her room after her shower, towel-drying her hair. The house was silent for once. Tobasu was napping on the floor at the end of her bed the last time she'd seen it, and Piplup was somewhere downstairs with Glammy; she hoped he wasn't pestering her, the Glameow had been really testy the past couple days, more so than usual because of her pregnancy.<p>

She was drying her hair with a towel as she walked, humming under her breath. Her mood had lightened greatly since that afternoon, so much so that she'd actually left some hot water for Paul. Usually she used it all on accident, but this time she was actually mindful of how long she took to bathe. She smiled slightly as she shouldered her door open, draping the towel around her neck. "Hey, Tobasu, think you can toss me my -" Dawn cut off, frozen where she stood barely across the threshold of her room.

Before her stood Paul, his shirt half-pulled over his head. His back was to her when she walked in, his broad shoulders moving as he removed his shirt fully; he turned to look at her when she spoke. The blush that ran through her thawed her immediately, heat coursing through her veins, allowing her to cover her eyes in embarrassment.

"Wh-what are you doing in my room?" she demanded. Her voice was at least three octaves higher than she wanted, but she didn't care. "Why aren't you in the bathroom?"

He frowned at her, but didn't make a move to put his shirt back on. He just slung it over his shoulder. Reaching down to his belt, he unclipped all three of his Poké Balls. Then he tossed them to Dawn, much to her surprise. Fumbling to catch them, she managed to gather all three of them in her arms, holding them to her chest. She looked at him, confused, as he walked past her into the hallway. Her eyes followed him until he reached the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him.

_What did you think I was going to do_, she yelled internally, _follow you inside!_ Oh, how she wished she had the nerve to say that out loud. But she grit her teeth, kicking her door shut behind her to get dressed. She dropped the balls onto her bed and let the towel that covered her body fall to the floor. She'd been too stunned by seeing Paul half-naked to realize or even remember that she was only clad in a towel. _I'm kind of glad Tobasu wasn't in here_, she grumbled internally. Her face was still burning with embarrassment, and now utter shame.

Pulling on a tank top and a pair of sweats, Dawn sat on the bed to inspect Paul's Poké Balls. They looked normal enough, all three a shiny red and white. The light glinted off the top of one as she picked it up and grabbed it. She rolled it between her hands, making sure to avoid accidentally pressing the automatic release button. Belatedly she remembered that there was a Pokémon inside rolling around with it; she immediately put it back on the bed. Looking around her room, she tried to find something to keep her busy. She could still barely hear her Loudred alarm clock screaming from its new bed in the bushes a story below her window. _I might have to go get that soon_, she mused. _Or maybe the batteries would die long before that_. She could only wish.

Mumbling under her breath, she pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans to check her messages. No texts, no missed calls - nothing. Flipping the phone closed, she tucked it into the waistband of her sweats, tugging the hem of her tank top over it. She set about making her bed since she didn't do it that morning. It kept her mind off of things, at least until she'd pulled the comforter over her pillows. As she ran a hand down the bed to smooth any wrinkles out, she remembered that Paul's clothes needed washing, same as hers. She gulped when she realized what she was going to have to do to get his clothes. Biting her lip as she began to pace beside the bed, she tried to steel her courage.

.

.

.

_Easy, easy . . ._ Dawn swallowed the lump in her throat, holding the bundle of clothes to her chest. She'd done the unthinkable and went into Johanna's closet to search for some of her father's clothes. She'd been fighting back tears the entire time she'd been going through the cardboard box in her mother's closet, carefully removing folded shirts and ties and setting them aside in stacks. Managing around her streaming eyes, she'd grabbed a pair of sweats and a dark shirt, tucking both under her arm as she set the clothes back into the box as fast as she could. After kicking the box back where she'd found it, she'd rushed out of her mother's room and down the hall to the bathroom door, where she stood presently. Her hand was raised to knock on the door, a slight tremor making her whole body shiver. Gritting her teeth she rapped on the door with the little amount of strength she could muster. Waiting in tense silence, all she could hear was the running water on the other side of the door. She frowned. Maybe he can't hear me, she figured. She reached for the doorknob.

A cloud of steam greeted her when she opened the door. It beaded instantly on her face, making her skin slick with water. The humidity inside the small bathroom was almost unbearable - she found it almost a chore to breath without sucking in a lung full of hot water. _There goes the water bill_, she grumbled internally. She set her father's clothes by the sink, her eyes raking the bathroom floor in search of his ashen clothes, probably permanently stained now because of all the water in the air. She kept from raising her eyes to the curtain that was pulled around the bathtub, concealing its occupant.

_Don't think about it, don't think about it_, she chanted. Her face felt hot as she chewed on her lip and forced herself to continue looking for his clothes. Her hair kept getting in her face, sticking to her forehead and cheek from the heat, making her push it back impatiently. _Don't think about it, don't think about_ -

There! Paul's clothes lay in a pile near the tub, his jacket on top. With a quick glance to make sure everything he'd been wearing - _DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!_ - was there, she snatched it all, bundling them in her arms. Carefully making her way over the slick tiles to the bathroom door, she was about to grab the clean clothes to set on the toilet when the water suddenly shut off. She panicked, leaving the garments where they were and rushing back into the hall. The sound of the curtain opening covered the small click of the door as it shut behind her. Her heart pounding in her chest, she gripped his clothes to her chest as she tried to even her breathing. Before she lost her nerve, she raced to her room to grab her own sooty clothes.

Piplup was lazing on the couch eating Poffins as Dawn came pounding down the stairs. Taking two steps at a time, she bounced across the hardwood toward the kitchen. In the closet next to the fridge, she opened the sliding door to show the washer and dryer unit. Piling her clothes and a few other articles of clothing on top, she added detergent and let the machine go to work. Flopping wearily onto the couch behind her Flygon, she listened idly to the bump of her clothes in the washer and Piplup's munching for the next ten or so minutes. She closed her eyes, leaning back into the couch cushion, nuzzling her cheek against Tobasu's when it set its head beside her.

The small click of the front door's lock startled her awake. Looking up with groggy eyes, Dawn watched as the door eased open, her mother stepping over the threshold. Johanna kicked off her shoes quietly, letting the door slowly shut behind her. She made a stop at the refrigerator, a wedge of light spilling across the floor as she opened the freezer door before walking with careful steps through the living room.

"Mom?"

Visibly jumping at the sound of Dawn's voice, Johanna looked at her teenage daughter as she sat up, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth to hide her yawn. "What are you doing home so late?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and getting to her feet slowly. Her mother looked as if she'd broken out in a nervous sweat, the beads of perspiration shining slightly on her forehead in the dim light. Dawn stared at her curiously. Why should she be nervous? She glanced at her Pokétch. "It's almost nine-thirty. You're usually home around five."

Johanna ran a hand over her hair, a haggard expression taking over her usually soft features. She gave a small sigh, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen loose from a bobby pin's hold. "Here, sit down, dear." She sat on the couch, waiting for Dawn to join her; the blunette sank uneasily back onto the cushion. "There's something I need to tell you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Drama, drama everywhere.

Oy. Took me a couple times to write this one. I'm also in the middle of working on chapter six of my other current (and updating) story New Magic. I know that I have a couple more stories that I need to finish Cyber Life, Home Alone Again, and a couple others, but I just haven't been feeling it since I posted the last few chapters of those stories. Sorry to those who actually want to see more from them _

But anyway, if you've been reading my story since I first started posting chapters again, thank you for keeping up with it, and if it's your first time reading this fic, drop a review, let me know what you think so far. Thanks so much to those who already have :) _Ciao_.


	6. The Attempts

**A/N**: Okay, I realized this a little while ago, but in the first chapter Dawn and May went straight to lunch after their Pokémon history class. After switching around and organizing her class schedule so I wouldn't screw anything up with it, I forgot this little tid bit. Instead of going straight to lunch after Soledad's class, she has a contest class in between, as mentioned in previous chapters that she sits blankly in sometimes. I didn't have all my notes together when I started the first chapter, this is more of a create-as-I-go fic. So, yeah.

Also, sorry it's taken me over two months to post this, I've been having a hard time writing lately :/

****Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.****

* * *

><p>On Wednesday, Dawn sat in class, half-listening to her teacher as he droned on about algebraic expressions that she'd probably never use after high school. He was writing on the dry erase board behind him, his marker squeaking across the white surface as he wrote equation after equation on the board. At least half of her classmates were talking or passing notes between each other; anything they could do to pass the last half hour of the class. Sitting silently in her chair, Dawn wrote at least half of the equations on a sheet of paper to make it look like she was paying attention. But her mind wasn't on algebra or numbers in general - she kept thinking back to Monday night, when Johanna had sat down with her to talk.<p>

She'd started off with the _Ever since your father died_ bit, something that she used when she was trying to break something important. This hadn't been the first time Dawn heard this, nor would she figure it was going to be the last. There was something about the way she'd said it this time that alerted Dawn that something _was not right_. Her usually happy mother looked exhausted, more so than she had the other morning: the circles were darker, her hair an almost unkempt mess under the bobby pins. Dawn listened attentively, fully awake and slightly alarmed.

Her father had died when she was seven. He'd been in an accident in search of a Pokémon she'd never heard of, a Druddigon, near the mountains outside the dragons' forest. The night before he left Johanna had begged him not to go. She'd tried to reason with him that no one had managed to get close enough to a Druddigon nest without being either chased off or seriously wounded. But he'd brushed off her warnings, explained to her that as a Pokémon researcher and reporter that those were exactly his reasons for going on the expedition. He'd left early the next morning, before Johanna or Dawn even knew he was gone.

He'd been gone for over a week when the town's Officer Jenny had knocked on their door one morning, bringing grave news. She told the weeping Johanna that her husband had been near the base of the mountain when a landslide most likely caused by some fighting Golem near the peak had buried him alive, two days into his journey. He'd been found by a couple of hikers who'd been close and investigated the damage the landslide had caused. They'd noticed a backpack carrying supplies, so they'd began to search through the rubble; they found Dawn's father underneath.

Nobody was sure whether he'd found the Druddigon, but his research notes held enough information in them that the publishing company he worked for gave a majority of the profits to his widow and young daughter. Johanna had immediately put the money into a savings account, letting the interest slowly build up the entire sum. She'd used it sparingly since she had a full-time job that paid a majority of the bills, but recently the money from her husband's hard-earned research had started running low, causing Johanna to have to take a second job.

_That's why she'd been so late getting home recently_, Dawn thought as she glanced up at her teacher. He was going through a linear equation now, explaining how to plot the points he'd written near the top of the board, and how to find the slope of the line. It seemed too complicated for Dawn at the moment, so she just went back to her daydreams.

By the time the bell rang, her teacher had gone through at least three more equations, leaving at least half of the class in a sort of confused state—they'd barely been able to follow his quick hand as he wrote on the dry erase board with his marker. Popping the cap back on, he dismissed them.

Dawn stood slowly, closing her notebook and shoving it into her book bag. A headache was spreading across her forehead, and she rubbed a hand over her cheek as she pulled her bag over her shoulder and began to make her way down the row she sat in. A couple students were taking their time getting their stuff together. Tapping her foot lightly on the tiled floor and glancing surreptitiously at her Pokétch, she waited for them to move. A flash of color in her peripheral vision made her look up.

It was Paul, making his way to the door. His hands were shoved into his pockets like usual, his book bag hanging off one shoulder as he stepped around a girl who gestured wildly as she walked. She noticed that he didn't have a jacket, probably because it was sitting in a bag in her locker with the rest of his things. Dawn's hand went instinctively to her belt. After the talk with her mom on Monday, Dawn had sat in her room teary-eyed. Her blurry vision had made her almost miss the Poké Ball that had rolled across the duvet when she'd sat down, bumping her leg softly. It was obviously one of Paul's, since both her Pokémon had been sound asleep beneath her window, both tired from putting out Topaz and Gabite's forest fire. The Poké Ball had wiggled slightly at the warmth of her hand as she held it. Then the seal had popped open of its own volition, releasing the Pokémon inside. Dawn had stared as Gabite stood before her. Both had worn equally confused expressions.

Forgetting about waiting, Dawn pushed between two desks and hurried after him. The hallway was already filling with students on their way to third period, making it difficult for her to navigate through the crowd. With the throng of taller people surrounding her she'd lost him easily. Her teeth clicked in agitation as she tried to wade toward the wall of lockers to her right. She leaned heavily against one, pressing her hands to her face as she let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Grumbling slightly in agitation, she began to push away from the locker when the one next to her shut with a loud clang. She glanced over more because of the sound than curiosity. Her eyes widened when she saw who its owner was.

An eyebrow raised almost to his hairline, Paul just looked at her. His book bag still hung off one shoulder, but seemed to be a little lighter since his posture wasn't as slumped as when he'd walked out of math class. Mouth flopping helplessly open and shut, Dawn stood there. She knew her face was probably bright red, and this frustrated her to no end as she tried to figure out just what to say. But her mind drew a blank, failing her once more.

"Can I help you, Troublesome?" His throat appeared better, but his voice was still a little hoarse. He leaned a shoulder against his locker, dropping his book bag on the floor by his foot and crossing his arms. Apparently, he figured this would take a while.

"Um. I didn't see you yesterday, so, um . . ." Dawn pushed a shaky hand over her hair, her bangs flopping over her forehead and into her eyes. The twitch of his hand brought her eyes to where his arms were crossed over his chest. Veins in the back of his hands were visible as he clenched his hand into stillness. This made Dawn frown, her embarrassment gone for the moment. _Weird._ She looked up when he cleared his throat. "Oh, right. This," she said, unclipping the Poké Ball that held Gabite from her belt and holding it out to him. "You forgot it at my house after you, um, left." She actually hadn't even been aware that he'd disappeared two nights ago, she'd been too disoriented from passing out on the couch and crying with her mother. He hadn't shown up for school on Tuesday, so she hadn't been able to return Gabite until today.

He had that bored look in his eye again, giving the Poké Ball only a cursory glance. "Keep it. I don't need it." With that he picked up his book bag, turning on his heel to head to his third period.

"Wait!" she called after him. She gripped the capsule tightly between her fingers, jogging to catch up to him. "But this is your Pokémon. You're supposed to take care of it."

"I won't take care of a Pokémon as weak as that one. It couldn't even stand up to that Charizard in the forest Monday, why would I want it?" he intoned, looking her dead in the eye over his shoulder, making her stop walking. She stared blankly after him for a moment; blinking her eyes to clear her thoughts, she started after him again.

"Hey!" Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. He seemed to be getting irritated, which she really couldn't blame him for, but she couldn't just let him _give away his Pokémon_. She wasn't even sure how long he'd had the Gabite, but that didn't matter. It was his Pokémon whether he liked it or not. Surprising the both of them, she raced around in front of him and grabbed his wrist. Pulling his hand from his pocket she set the ball in his palm, closing his fingers around it. "A Pokémon is not some item you can just give away - you care for them, learn with them, _love them_. I'm not just going to let you give this Pokémon to me, whether you like it or not." She squeezed his hand like he had hers on Friday when they'd made their agreement during lunch.

Turning on her heel to make a quick escape, she'd only made it a couple steps before she was jerked backward. Her feet stumbled across the linoleum in their effort to steady herself. Grabbing hold of her book bag's straps, she felt how tightly they were pulled against her shoulders. Vaguely, she heard the sound of a zipper, a small tugging of her bag that stretched the straps even more. Wiggling like a worm she managed to twist enough to see over her shoulder. But she didn't see anything, only Paul walking past her with his hands shoved in his pockets again. The bottom hem of his shirt shifted as he walked, revealing the three Poké Balls on his belt.

_One, two, three_, she counted mentally. She smiled slightly to herself as she followed him down the hall. _My words had to have gotten to him somehow._ Paul turned sharply into one of the open classroom doorways; Dawn hurried down the hall to her Pokémon history class before Ms. Soledad marked her tardy.

* * *

><p>"So how did it go with your Mom?"<p>

Dawn sighed as she walked down the hall with May. It was after their history class and she was walking to their shared contest class at the end of the hall. The brunette was referring to the conversation she'd had with Johanna the night before after she'd gotten home, how she'd scolded her mom about not telling her things as important as their funds running low. She'd offered to start looking for a job, but her mother had vehemently refused, saying that she wanted her to concentrate on her studies. No matter how much she'd protested, Johanna was against it entirely. "Not very well."

Giving her friend a supportive smile and patting her on the shoulder as they passed over their classroom's threshold, they went to their seperate seats across the room from each other. Dawn pulled the notebook marked for the class out of her book bag. Something clunked to the bottom of her bag as she set the binder on her desk top. Curious, she peered into the depth of her bag, seeing an object shine red under the glare of the fleurescent lights above her. This was a puzzle, she mused, reaching into her bag to grab whatever it was. When she touched its cool surface, she knew immediately what it was. Pulling her hand from her bag, she saw that it was indeed what she'd thought: it was a Poké Ball.

_What the _—_?_ While rolling the ball over her palm, her index finger accidentally pressed the release button. A light flashed as the Pokémon inside the capsule sprung free. The empty desk beside her clattered on its side as the Pokémon materialized on top of it. Giving a cry of surprise and irritation, Dawn saw that it was Paul's Gabite. _Why do I have Gabite!_

Everything stopped in the classroom. Dawn's classmates all stared at the Cave Pokémon as it squawked and held its still-injured arm. It looked around the classroom for a moment, turning to stare at the students. Leaning forward, it looked at the girl that sat in a desk behind it. She had turned deathly pale, trembling slightly as her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Then the screaming started. The girl's rang first when Gabite tilted its head to the side and squawked again; the other students quickly followed suit. Chairs went crashing to the ground and desks were pushed aside as the students tried to put a large space between them and Gabite. Some even ran out the door into the hallway. _What's wrong with everybody?_ Dawn wondered as she slowly stood.

Everything was in chaos - the students squawling about there being a "wild" Gabite loose in the classroom, even though Dawn knew that they had to have seen it be released from a Poké Ball; Mr. Harley was demanding order from everybody, but none of the teenagers were listening to him, they were too busy screaming in high pitches when Gabite took a small step toward them all. "It's not _that_ scary," Dawn muttered as she made her way toward Gabite slowly; the poor thing was as scared as everybody else, why on earth wouldn't they all shut up so she could calm it down? "Guys," she called, but nobody was listening to her. "Guys!" she tried again, trying to raise her voice over everybody else's wailing.

_Nobody's listening_. She ground her teeth in frustration. Turning toward the front of the room, she made her way through the sea of messy desks and strewn chairs until she stood in front of Mr. Harley's desk. Grunting slightly, she clambered on top of it, scattering some papers and a cup of pencils to the floor. Harley took notice of this, but when he turned to scold Dawn, Gabite gave a small cry and tried to clamber over the desks that were already scattered haphazardly. It fell on its side beneath a window, landing on its hurt arm and crying out once more in pain.

"_HEY!_" Dawn screamed before the students could start wailing again. Her breath hitched painfully when they all looked at her, surprise making them all freeze. "What is the matter with all of you? It's a Gabite, not a Hydreigon. It's also _tame_. Did nobody see it come from a Poké Ball?" She held the capsule to where they could all see it, further proving her point.

Whispers broke out among the students. Figuring that it was better than the screaming, Dawn made to climb down from the desk, dropping to the linoleum floor behind Harley. The teacher glared down at her. Shrinking away, knowing that she was in _big_ trouble, she rushed over to Gabite. She helped it to its feet, being very wary of its injured arm. _I hope Nurse Joy can have a look at this_, she thought as she held up Gabite's Poké Ball. Pointing the button toward the Pokémon, Gabite squawked one last time before returning into the capsule. Gripping the ball tightly in her hand, she turned to face her teacher. There was a fire in Harley's eyes that they never really saw in class unless somebody completely bombed a quiz or test.

"Office." Harley swung an arm up to point at the door, his other hand planted on his hip. The students who had run from the room slowly trickled through the doorway, throwing nervous glances around the room. "_Now._"

Figuring it was better to just grab her stuff and leave, Dawn zipped her book bag shut and carried it out with her. She gave a weak wave to May as she walked out the door. May stood there helplessly, watching as her friend scurried out the door. "This isn't going to be good," she muttered. She had to pull her attention from the door and help straighten the desks that Gabite had moved. Even though the Gabite had only stayed in one general area, a whole mess of desks were on their side or turned the wrong way because of how the frightened students had scurried away. Moving to rearrange the desk next to her, she noted how her neighbor was coolly setting his own desk back to its right angle against the wall. He pulled his chair from where it lay on the floor, sitting it upright before falling heavily into it, sighing. "You're not going to help everybody else?" she asked him.

Steady emerald eyes peered up at her from where he leisurely sat. He was tipping his chair back slightly, dangling him above the floor as he pushed a hand through his matching emerald hair. "I didn't make the mess, why should I have to help clean it up?" The words were haughty, his voice and face serious.

"It's called being polite," May huffed as she helped another student pick up their desk.

"I call it a waste of time."

Irritation swam in her veins as she turned and glared down at him. "Just who do you think you are anyway?" she demanded with a cross of her arms. He was really starting to make her mad.

He all but sneered at her, his eyes glinting in the light of the fluorescents. "The name's Drew Hayden, miss priss. I'm the head of this class in grades. I'm surprised and even slightly hurt you haven't heard of me before."

Of course. When exam time had rolled around during her first year of high school, his name had been near the top, while hers ran close to the bottom. The look on his face betrayed his words though, that sly grin still stuck on his face as if it were glued to his cheeks. Hiding how surprised she actually was, she turned and dropped into her own chair, ignoring when Mr. Harley ordered for them to get back to helping. She paid no attention the teacher and his squawking, instead saying to Drew, "Just because you have good grades doesn't always mean you'll be well known on the board by everybody."

Drew leaned forward and rested his chin on his crossed arms, now looking at her with amusement dancing in his eyes. "Is that so?" he muttered.

The attention he turned on her made May blush furiously. In retaliation she huffed once more, turning away again to pick her book bag off the floor and rummage through it for anything to distract her from his piercing gaze. She wished he would look away so she could concentrate when Harley finally resumed teaching. Fat chance, she grimaced.

* * *

><p>"That was horrible," Dawn muttered to herself as she shut Principal Ketchum's office door behind her. Ash hadn't been kidding when he'd said that his mom was the principal. The woman had been kind and fair to Dawn once she'd explained what had happened in class. She didn't make any presumptions when the blunette had hesitantly walked into her office, but she had still given two days of detention to Dawn for releasing a Pokémon and causing chaos in the middle of class time. <em>Mom's going to be furious once she finds out<em>, she groaned inwardly.

She trudged down the hall toward Nurse Joy's office so she could see if the nurse could help the Gabite in any way. She was still unsure about how she'd gotten Gabite's Poké Ball when she _knew_ that she'd put it straight into Paul's hand before third period. Had it been when he'd pulled on her back pack in the hallway? Everything was puzzling her these days, to the point of insanity. She rubbed a hand over her forehead as she walked down the hall, the other moving to where Gabite's Poké Ball was clipped to her belt between Tobasu's and Piplup's. She'd have to figure out what to do with it later.

It was silent in the hallway as she walked. Class was still in session, though a glance at her Pokétch told her that it was only ten or so minutes before they were over. So she picked up her pace, almost racing past the office and toward Nurse Joy's. Her footsteps echoed off the walls as she jogged, covering up any other sounds in the hallway she might have heard. Once she saw the nurse's office door she slowed her pace, and since it grew quiet in the hall once more, her ears finally picked up on the voices floating from the open doorway. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she strained her ears to listen.

" . . . if it starts hurting again. Irritation to the throat can take a few days to heal."

It was Nurse Joy. She was probably talking to a student, their voice hoarse. By the sound of it their throat had been injured somehow. She frowned as she grew closer and the student began to speak.

"I'm never going into that forest again," they grumbled. "It's caused me nothing but trouble."

That was Paul's voice, she realized. Unconsciously she blushed, gripping the collar of her tee tightly in her hand. The clothes that she'd washed were still sitting in her locker two halls away. Even if she made a mad dash for the first-year hall she'd never make it back before the bell. Pretty soon she became too preoccupied with her thoughts, pacing in small circles over the linoleum as she went over every scenario that popped into her head about how she could give back his clothes. She was so caught up in her mind that she failed to notice when someone stepped out of Nurse Joy's office, practically crashing into them after her circles became wider and wider. "Ah!" she gasped, rubbing her face where it had collided with their shoulder. "Sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was -" She cut off when she looked up.

Paul stared down at her with the same bored expression he'd worn earlier, though now a bit of amusement was hidden in his dark gaze. "Well, well," he said. "Long time no see, Troublesome."

Facing burning once more, Dawn stared at him in silence. Why did her brain like to shut down when she had his attention? It puzzled her, making her possible revelation in the bathroom the week before seem even more reasonable. _Wait, why am I just standing here staring at him?_ She averted her eyes, finding a sudden interest with the floor. "Paul," she said simply. "You know it's only been a couple of hours."

He raised an eyebrow like he knew there was more that she wanted to say. She licked her lips nervously; her eyes were to the floor, so she didn't see his own fall to her mouth. "Obviously not long enough if you're running into me again so soon."

Irritation flashed through her for a moment. She hadn't run physically into him earlier. Looked for him, yes, but she'd been against a locker when she'd finally found him. Raising her eyes in trying to look bold, she said to him, "I have your clothes in my locker. I washed them Monday night while you were, um, in the shower." A blush spread across her face again, but she pointedly ignored it. The pounding of her heart was harder to ignore, though; the sound of her blood pumped loudly in her ears.

"I wondered what happened to them," he grunted. Then he fell silent.

The pause became long enough that Dawn looked up. Through her lashes she could see him standing there, almost glaring down at the floor as he thought. _What's eating him?_ she thought idly, openly staring now. Then the look was gone and he was back to looking at her with bored eyes. "Um, yeah," she said hesitantly, chewing lightly at her cheek. "But since you weren't in school yesterday I couldn't give them back." A question she hadn't said hung in the air: _Where were you yesterday?_

Apparently he was refusing to answer it, since he only grunted again. Maybe he wouldn't say anything about it unless she asked it outright, but that would have to wait until later. The lunch bell rang behind Dawn, signalling that fourth period was dismissed. Panic ran through Dawn as the first sound of hungry students floated down the hall. Frantically thinking, she looked straight at him and said, "Come with me back to Nurse Joy's and I'll give you your stuff back."

Amusement glittered in his eyes once more as he stared down at her. "Are you trying to bargain with me, Troublesome?"

_He's known me barely a week and he's already given me a nickname_, she thought edgily. Then she realized she was no exception. _Let's just get this over with._ "Do you want your stuff or not?"

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he shifted his weight to one foot as he looked at her. "Maybe."

Clicking her teeth lightly in anxiety, Dawn glanced behind her as a couple of students walked by. There was still a little buzz going around the school about her catching Tobasu even after a week, and as the small group passed them one looked over at her. It was a boy with spiky brown hair, his green eyes watching her as he and his female companion walked by. Dawn squirmed slightly under his stare, shifting her own back to Paul only to see him watching the boy as well. "You won't get any of it back unless you come with me," she tried again, fisting her hands hard enough to feel her nails dig into her palms.

Rolling his eyes at her words seemed to be all he could do at that moment. He turned to look back down at her, saying, "Fine. My jacket better not have shrunken in that contraption you call a dryer."

"Oh, please," Dawn said as she walked around him. Footsteps behind her confirmed that he was following her, and she continued: "The unit may be a little outdated, but it's reliable and still very useful."

A scoff. "It didn't look very reliable when I passed it on my way out."

"Speaking of which." She halted right before Nurse Joy's closed door, spinning on her heel to face him. Her sudden stop surprised him, almost making him run into her. Ignoring this the best she could, she looked up at him and said, "You could have left a note or something. Heck, you could have taken your Gabite too! I got sent to the principal's office because it popped out in the middle of my contest class." Levelling a glare at him, she pulled the Poké Ball from her belt and held it near his face.

He was silent for a moment, looking between her and the Poké Ball contemplatively. Then he smirked at her. Blood rushed to Dawn's face as he shoved a hand in his pocket, walking around her to open the nurse's door with his free hand. "After you?" he asked, his smirk widening when she huffed, grasping the ball tightly in her hand and stomping through the doorway before him. A chuckle followed after her as the door shut behind them.

* * *

><p>Dawn sat in her room later that day, staring out the window. The dragon Pokémon were flying over her neighborhood, the evening lights glinting off their scales and wings as they glided above houses and small businesses. With her feet tucked beneath her she leaned slightly out her window to watch them. It had been a little over a week since she'd last seen them; she'd let Tobasu out earlier so it could fly as well. Multiple breeds of the dragons were flying, but there was a specific Pokémon that she was searching for.<p>

_Topaz . . ._ Sighing, she pushed away from the window to lay on her carpeted floor. She rolled onto her side and stared beneath her bed as she let her thoughts wander. A majority of them drifted back to earlier that day when she and Paul were standing at her locker soon after they'd left Nurse Joy's office. She was spinning the lock on the door while she muttered under her breath and glanced at him every so often. He had just been leaning against the door next to hers, that bored look on his face again. _Doesn't this boy have any other emotions besides bored and slightly amused?_ she wondered, pulling the lock open with a _click!_

"Finally!" she heard him mutter. Shooting a glare from the corner of her eye, she reached into the locker and grabbed the grocery bag that held his belongings.

"I asked my mom to fold them for me since I'm not very good at it." Shoving the bag at him so she wouldn't risk touching his hand and stuttering like an idot, she slammed the locker shut. Leaning against her door, she looked at him as he purused the contents of the bag. Everything should have been in there, his shirt, his pants, his . . . you-know-what. Just the implied thought made her face turn red again for what must have been the tenth time that day. She tried to empty her mind the best she could, brushing a hand through her hair. She didn't even hear when he said something.

"Hello?"

Fingers snapped in front of her eyes. Startled, she bounced back against the locker, the sound echoing through the empty hall. She blinked up at a disgruntled Paul. "S-sorry," she stammered. "What did you say?"

"I said my jacket's missing." He raised an eyebrow at her.

Her own brown knit in return. "It should be in there," she murmured. "Are you sure it's not?"

The bag crinkled as he held it out for her to inspect. Giving the inside of it an almost cursory glance, she saw that everything was indeed there, sans the jacket. _Weird. Wait a minute . . ._ Heaving a heavy sigh, Dawn leaned her head against the locker door. Brushing a hand through her hair again, she looked through her bangs at him as she said, "My mom hung it up for it to dry Monday night. It had been hanging on the back of my door since, I didn't even realize I'd walked right past it this morning."

"A lot of good that does me," he muttered, glancing down the hall as the bell for fifth period rang and dismissed lunch. It had taken longer in Nurse Joy's office than what they'd expected. Even though they had managed to make it into the office before too many students saw them, Nurse Joy had asked the both of them multiple questions about Gabite's injury: how it happened, why they'd let it happen, who did it; it was endless. The scolding she'd given them was almost the same as the one Dawn had received the week before after her practice battle against Torterra. Dawn was so embarrassed that she had needed to bring two Pokémon for help because of the same guy.

Heaving a sigh as she pushed away from the locker, Dawn picked her bag up from the floor. Settling it on her shoulder she said, "I'll find a way to get it to you tomorrow, probably before math class starts."

He frowned. "We have math together?"

She mirrored his expression. "We do." _Does he not pay a lot of attention to his surroundings or something?_ "We've had class together for about a week, have you not talked to anybody yet?"

Dropping his book bag from his shoulder, she could see him shake his head as he knelt to unzip it. The zipper's sound filled the short silence between them as he stuffed the plastic bag in the back pack in front of his school stuff. Dawn frowned when she saw this, dropping down to a crouch so she could see his face. He was frowning into his bag as he zipped it shut, never noticing that she was at his eye level until he glanced up. The sight of her face so close to his didn't seem to faze him much; the only sign that he registered her closeness was a slight widening of his eyes. Before things could become too awkward, she gave him a megawatt smile, pushed back to a standing position, and said, "I'll see you in Battle Tactics class." Then she walked off as if nothing was wrong in the world.

Presently, Dawn sighed as she pressed her face into the soft carpet, feeling heat in her face as she remembered how she'd stumbled once she'd rounded the nearest corner. With hopes that he wouldn't pass by the hall any time soon—even though class would be starting in a few minutes—she'd rested her burning face against the cool stone wall. It had felt good against her cheek and helped calm her erratic thought process. Why had she gotten so close to his face like that? Why had she even crouched down, knowing that would cut the space between them at least in half or so. Sighing heavily, she'd pushed away from the wall so she could head to Battle Tactics. She was met with some stares as she passed other students. With embarrassment clouding her mind she'd forgotten that people had been filling the halls during the last end of her and Paul's exchange.

_I should have realized there were people around_, she thought as she rolled over. Frowning, she realized that she'd forgotten to give Gabite back to him. With a sigh that was almost as heavy as the one from earlier she sat up, using her bed as leverage. A sound out in the hallway made her walk to her door. Glancing toward the stairs leading to the first floor she saw Piplup leading Gabite up the steps, probably to her room. They stopped when they saw her, except for Piplup, who chirped and waved his flipper as he waddle-ran toward her. Dawn smiled and leaned over slightly to catch him as he jumped into her arms. He continued to chirp into her ear as she walked to the other Pokémon, prattling on about something she couldn't understand. "Are you excited that you have somebody else to play with, Piplup?" she laughed.

"Piplup!" he cried.

Dawn smiled as she stopped in front of Gabite; it sat back on its heels slightly in anxious anticipation. The Pokémon seemed slightly nervous now that it realized that Paul probably wouldn't take it back anymore. Maybe it had been a good thing that she had forgotten to return it to him earlier that day. For the moment she pushed the thought of returning Gabite away, instead reaching a hand out to it. "Sorry things turned out this way, but I'm hoping we can work together in the future. What do you say?"

The Pokémon tapped its pointed claws together in thought. Its golden eyes glanced between her face and hands as it seemed to debate something internally. There was something in its eyes that gave Dawn the idea that maybe it was scared of having a different trainer so soon. Whatever it was debating seemed to be pushed away, though, when it reached one arm out and placed a claw in her outstretched hand. They went through the motions of a handshake, Dawn giggling slightly and Gabite smiling a sharp-tooth grin. When they pulled their arms back Dawn turned and headed back to her bedroom to get ready for dinner, Gabite following her and Piplup squeaking again in her arms the entire time.

_Maybe this will be something good for the both of us_, she mused as she set Piplup down. Glancing at her Pokémon as they watched the dragon Pokémon flying outside the window, she laughed when Gabite and Piplip waved as they found Tobasu mixed in the bunch. She went over to the window when it flew over, flapping its wings to keep it afloat, and leaned slightly out the window to nuzzle cheeks with the Flygon. As she introduced Tobasu to Gabite, she watched how they interacted with each other. She smiled and sat on the floor below the window as they talked in their own language, actually content for the moment. Resting her chin on her folded arms, she closed her eyes for a few minutes.

_I really hope this works._

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I'm not entirely sure if this is up to par this time around. Then again, I haven't actually read through this chapter in a couple weeks. I've been so busy with school and stuff :V

Either way, I hope this is a chapter that is somewhat likable. I'm working on the seventh one now, maybe that one'll be better. I also figured out that em dashes work so much better than trying to make two hyphens together work with this site lol

_Ciao._


	7. The Neighbors

**A/N**: Wow, I actually finished this the day after the sixth chapter. I didn't sleep at all during the night, and when morning hit I started writing like crazy!

I actually kind of like this chapter more than the last one, which is good. Took me roughly six or so hours of writing to finish this xD

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.**

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful day outside on Thursday: the sun shining through the clouds as they drifted across the sky, a slight breeze blowing over the school lawn, and Chatots and Pidgeys chirping in the trees. But Dawn wasn't able to enjoy the warmth of outside—she had detention Thursday afternoon. Instead of being under a tree in her backyard talking on the phone with May or Leaf, she was stuck in the free for all room, also known as study hall. At the moment she was resting her cheek on the surface of the desk she was sitting in, when she should have been studying for one of her classes. She didn't really care at the time, though, she was just ready to go home.<p>

It was silent in the classroom as Dawn sat at her desk doing nothing. The teacher in charge of detention was sitting behind the instructor's desk at the front of the room, their chair tilted back on its rear legs. The back of the chair rested against the marker tray attached to the dry erase board behind them; it creaked ominously ever so slightly as they adjusted their position. _If it weren't for him_, Dawn thought as she peered at the teacher silently, _I could be lounging somewhere else instead of cooped up in this so called classroom_. Study hall wasn't really a class, just an extra period for students to sign up for so they didn't really have to focus on any sort of planned curriculum. That was one of the main reasons Dawn picked it for her seventh period class, that way she could just unwind at the end of the day. It really came in handy sometimes.

Today was not one of those days. When her other classmates had left the room without her she'd basically set up camp for the next boring hour after the school bell rang. She'd been sitting in the same position (her face against the faux wood top, hood over her head) for the past thirty minutes, mostly just staring out the window helplessly. The teacher in charge of detention hadn't told her and her peers to do anything else; as soon as he'd walked in he'd written DETENTION in big bold letters on the board before plopping down in his chair. He'd been as silent as the rest of them since, just dozing in his chair instead of staying alert like he probably should have been. It didn't really matter at the moment, but maybe he could have been doing something more interesting; would have given them all something to pass the time.

.

.

.

_Finally._

The classroom door creaked as everyone who'd attended detention filed out quickly into the hallway. Footsteps echoed off the walls and lockers as each person went on their merry way toward the front of the school or toward the breeze way that led to the student parking lot by the building. Dawn didn't waste any time following suit. The walk home was going to take her at least twenty minutes, and since Johanna was already at her second job she couldn't call her for a ride. She didn't like riding in her mother's car anyway.

It was slightly chilly outside, the sun shining brightly and lazily from its place in the sky. The light was blocked momentarily by a cloud as Dawn began her walk home. To pass the time she pulled up the music app on her phone, retrieving her earbuds from a side pocket on her book bag and plugging them into the proper jack; she pulled her hood over her head and tapped the shuffle button for a random song. It didn't really matter what song she listened to, she just wanted something to make the walk easier on her nerves. Nodding her head along to the music she continued down the sidewalk, feeling more at ease with herself now.

The streets weren't as busy as usual, Dawn noticed. It was most likely because it was later in the day than normal for her walk through town on her way home from school. Whatever the reason, Dawn preferred it to the usual bustling crowd of people that dominated most of the sidewalk. Weren't most people supposed to still be in work in the middle of the afternoon? The only thing she knew at the moment though was that the street light she was standing at was taking forever to change.

Shifting her back pack to her other shoulder, Dawn recalled how only a little more than a week ago she'd almost been ran over at this very intersection. She smiled slightly as she glanced down the street at cars as they passed, the sunlight glinting off their hoods and fenders. The sound of a roaring engine over the music made her wince visibly, but she relaxed when it was only an eighteen-wheeler passing through. Sighing, she pushed a hand through her hair and turned up the music, stepping off the sidewalk when the light finally changed. _No more jumping the paint blocks_,she thought to herself ruefully. _I've learned my lesson_.

Music continued to blast in her ears, she hummed along to the song as she finally turned onto her street. A few neighbors waved hello to her as she passed by; she smiled in return, waving back every so often. As she crossed the street to get on the side of the road her house was on her phone buzzed in her pocket, cutting into the new song that was beginning to play. She glanced at the screen as she avoided a crack in the sidewalk. It was a text from May asking her how detention went. Grimacing, she typed out the boring details, how the teacher had just sat there like the rest of them without a word. Her answering text made Dawn laugh out loud for the first time since leaving school grounds. She was so distracted by texting and her music that she almost didn't glance up in time to see something that startled her slightly.

A few houses away from hers there was a young man crouching in the grass of his yard. Dawn wasn't entirely sure what he was doing; were those weeds he was pulling out of the ground? That wasn't what startled her though—his hair was such a similar color to Paul's. Lowering her face as she drew closer, she watched him through her hair with growing interest. Could this be the fabled brother of Paul that she and her friends had been talking about at lunch that one day last week?

Her footsteps seemed to draw his attention away from his weeding briefly. He glanced up at her as she passed the first post of the fenced in yard, smiling a warm neighborly smile at her. Dawn could feel heat fill her face at the sight. _Wow. I wonder why Paul doesn't do that enough._ Shaking her head to dislodge that tidbit from her thought process, she pulled her hood down and earbuds out and hung them around her neck, the blasting music still slightly audible.

"Hi," she said, coming to a stop a few feet from him. "You must be the new neighbor who moved in last week."

"That's me." Standing up he brushed dirt from his pants with gloved hands. He removed one and held the hand out to Dawn. "Name's Reggie Shinji. I just moved in with my younger brother Paul."

_Bingo._

"Dawn Hikari." Shaking his hand, she smiled at him. "I live with my mom about five houses down the street from here." She nodded in the direction of her home. She vaguely noted that the driveway was still empty; her lips pressed into a thin line with slight worry for her mother and the monster she called a car.

With a shake of her head she turned to look back at Reggie. "I go to school with your brother Paul," she continued in an attempt to distract herself.

That one sentence seemed to create a spark in Reggie's eyes. "Oh really? It's nice that Paul is starting to make some friends at the high school. He keeps to himself so much that he doesn't really get to know anybody."

"Oh?" _I'm having slight deja-vu for some reason._

"Mm-hm. He'd never give me a straight answer when it came to how school went, or how he was getting along with his classmates." Reggie gave a heavy sigh. He gave off an air that told her he was carrying a heavy burden when it came to his little brother.

She smiled slightly in sympathy. "How's his throat doing? He didn't sound very good yesterday."

Rolling his eyes heaven-ward he said, "He refuses to listen to his school nurse, apparently. She called me yesterday after he got home from school to let me know that he'd come to see her about slight smoke inhalation injuries." He sighed again, running the non-gloved hand over his hair. "I have no idea where or how it happened, he just came home on Monday in a different shirt and a pair of sweat pants—I don't know where he got them from."

Blushing madly Dawn stuttered in response. "That's mostly because of me. I found him out in the forest covered in ash and soot from a fire in a clearing. It wasn't anything too large," she rushed to explain after seeing his expression. "A couple of Pokémon got a little out of control during a fight, and we happened to be in the vicinity of their brawl." Well, that wasn't the entire truth, but she hoped he would believe her little half-lie. She bit her lip in slight apprehension when he frowned.

"Well, so long as you two didn't get injured too badly," he finally said.

Phew. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding she relaxed her rigid stance. She resettled her book bag on her shoulder, accidentally knocking her earbuds from around her neck. "Shoot," she muttered, bending over to pick them up. Once she'd replaced them she looked back up at Reggie, her mouth open to say something but snapped shut when she caught him staring at her.

_Uh?_

For a moment he just looked at her, his hand at his chin. The power of his scrutiny caused her to blush furiously once more, her teeth clicking slightly. After a few more moments of strained silence he smiled, saying, "I just recalled Paul mentioning a blue-haired classmate recently. He kept talking about how clumsy and troublesome she was when he saw her."

His words and kind smile fueled her embarrassment even further, turning her normally pale skin a hot tomato red. It was true that she was clumsy sometimes, but why did he have to use that word to describe her, "troublesome"? It was like he was calling her a pain, a thorn stuck constantly in his side. She'd only known him for barely a week and a half for Pete's sake! Frankly, they didn't even really know _each other_, so maybe she shouldn't be judging so soon.

Trying to swallow around the lump in her throat, she pushed her bangs away from her eyes. She really needed to get a haircut, she noted vaguely. "Um, yeah. I guess I am a bit clumsy," she admitted. "But I'm not exactly sure how 'troublesome' I really am."

The grin he showed her made him look a lot like his brother, only older and more positive. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think that means he's taking a shine to you."

_A shine to me?_ This confused Dawn slightly. What did he mean?

Dawn was getting so caught up in her thoughts that she almost missed the next thing he said. "I'm glad that he's got a friend as nice as you. Maybe it'll bring him out of his shell a bit while we settle in."

Her face paled slightly this time. So that's what he meant. She'd been starting to worry over something mistaken and silly. Silently she chided herself for over thinking what Reggie was saying. She quickly brought herself back to the moment. She smiled at him and said, "I hope so too. Oh, that reminds me."

Swinging her bag around to her front, she pulled the front pocket zipper open and pulled a plastic bag out from the pouch. The bag contained Paul's jacket. She'd grabbed it off the back of her door this morning before she headed off for school. After giving a strict word to Gabite about staying in the yard while she was gone, she'd clipped Tobasu's and Piplup's Poké Balls to her belt and shut the door behind her. Presently Dawn handed the bag to Reggie. "I forgot to put this with his clothes when I returned them yesterday. I couldn't catch him all day so I never had the chance to give the jacket to him today." She shrugged as he took the bag from her.

"Oh, thank you. I was wondering why he wasn't wearing this the past couple days." He smiled at her. "I'll make sure to wash the clothes you lent him before he returns them."

At the mention of her father's clothes something shot through Dawn. It was like a sharp pain, starting from her heart all the way to the pit of her stomach; sadness accompanied it. Visibly shaking it off, she rubbed away the goosebumps that had sprung up along her arm, pulling her hoodie sleeves over her hands. "No, no. It's fine. Really," she pressed when she saw him open his mouth. "We don't really need the clothes. I've lived with only my mom since my dad died." She shrugged at his sorrowful expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't bring up any bad memories." He grimaced when she shrugged again. The whole topic was beginning to make her feel awkward. Time for a subject change.

"It's okay. So, when's Paul supposed to be getting home? School got out over an hour ago." Pushing attention onto other people always worked in situations like this.

"I'm not entirely sure," he frowned. "Usually he's home by now." Lifting the edge of his one glove, he looked at a watch that was strapped to his wrist. Glancing at her Pokétch herself, Dawn saw that it was almost five 'o clock. Holy cow, they'd been talking for almost half an hour. Her mom didn't get home until late and she didn't have any homework, so she had all the time in the world to waste. Wasting it with Reggie seemed a better alternative to staring blankly out her window, blocking the annoying screech of her Loudred alarm clock below in the bushes. She needed to take care of that soon.

"Maybe he's exploring the town a bit? I mean, it's no big city, but there are a few parks around here somewhere."

"Hm. You mentioned a forest, right?"

"Yeah." Pointing in the general direction of her house, she motioned over the buildings toward the top of the trees. "The tree line starts about twenty yards from my backyard. Quite a few dragon Pokémon live in the forest, but most of them live either near the mountain area a few miles into the trees or around the river line. Mostly it's the Charizard line and Flygon line that live in nests somewhere on the forest floor. I'm not entirely sure where everything else lives, I haven't been that far in yet." She shrugged again, brushing her bangs away from her face. When she noticed that all she heard was her music she glanced nervously up at him. He was gazing at her with an encouraging look in his eye, almost as if he were proud of her.

_I haven't seen that look since Daddy first taught me how to ride my bike_, she thought in wonder. She realized belatedly that she had been babbling information that was common around her town; maybe she'd said all that stuff in hopes that he wouldn't think she was exactly dumb. Maybe it had the opposite effect instead?

"You sound like you know a lot about the Pokémon around here," he finally said.

Once again, she blushed at his words. No one had praised her like that in a while. It felt kind of . . . nice. She smiled shyly, opening her mouth to say something, but slamming it shut with a loud _clack_ when she heard, "Troublesome, what are you doing in front of my house talking to my brother?"

Dawn stood frozen to the spot, her book bag clutched tightly to her chest. The music from her earbuds continued to play, but she paid it no mind as she slowly turned her head to look at who spoke: of course it was Paul. He looked as bored as ever, his hands stuffed into his pants pocket and his book bag thrown over his shoulder. It was still odd seeing him without a jacket—and outside of school. Now that she was actually looking at him, she noticed the muscles in his arms when he removed his hands from his pockets and continued down the sidewalk toward them.

"Isn't it enough that you bother me at school, you've got to be troublesome in front of my house as well?" He raised an eyebrow at her. It wasn't clear to Dawn whether he was being serious or teasing her. Reggie saved her from trying to think of something to say.

"Paul, don't be rude." He frowned at his little brother, who mirrored the motion. "Dawn was only telling me about the dragon Pokémon around here. She knows quite a lot about them from what I've heard."

For probably the tenth time, Dawn's face flushed in embarrassment. "It's pretty common knowledge, honest," she murmured, toying with the open zipper of her bag.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Paul muttered.

Frowning, Dawn turned so she was half facing him. "What do you mean?" she asked softly. If he was talking about what she thought he was, she hoped she would be able to hold back tears when he explained it.

His mouth opened, ready to speak, but then he seemed to think better of it, quickly snapping it shut. Shaking his head, he pushed through the fence gate and walked along the path to the front door. "I'll be in my room," he said over his shoulder as he opened the door. His eyes caught Dawn's as he paused on the threshold, coal to sapphire. The connection was broken when he closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head and closing the door behind him. Dawn remained confused, standing silently on the sidewalk and staring where he had just stood.

_What was that about?_ she shouted silently. That boy was a strange one, that's for certain. She was so sure that he was going to mention that she had not caught any Pokémon until last week, that she had been a failure until recently. It had to have been common knowledge when he'd started at her school; a lot of the kids had talked about it whenever she wasn't around. Maybe he'd thought about how hurtful it would have been if he had mentioned it. Then again, it _was_ Paul she was talking about. Niceness and politeness didn't seem to be at the top of his list from what she'd seen so far.

"I'm sorry about that."

Pulling herself from her thoughts once more, she forced herself to look at Reggie as calmly as she could manage. Which was slightly difficult since she was pretty sure her confusion was written all over her face, questions in her eyes and on the tip of her tongue. With a little effort she managed to give him a wan smile. "It's all right," she said. "I'm kind of used to it. A little odd though, isn't he?"

Reggie sighed, ruffling his scruffy bangs. "You could say that. He wasn't like this before Mom and Dad died in a car wreck when we were kids."

Dawn gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Giving her a small smile he said, "It happened years ago, but thank you. They were good people and I know Paul misses them as much as I do sometimes." His voice softened and slowly trailed off, this faraway look coming to his eyes. He seemed to shake it off though, shutting his eyes for a moment before looking at her again. He looked older now, more like a real grown up than the young adult that he obviously was.

"I'm the same with my dad," she confessed softly. "He died when I was about seven. He'd gone on an expedition into the mountains for research on a Pokémon that isn't very well known, even now." She smiled sadly. "He was a great Pokémon researcher and he died loving what he did." A stray tear trickled down her cheek—she hadn't even realized she'd started crying.

"Oh, gosh. I'm sorry." She wiped the tears away with her sleeve, sniffling like a child. "I don't usually talk about him to anybody but my mom; this is a first," she sobbed. Pulling the collar of her hoodie to her mouth, she bit down on the fabric to keep from sobbing loudly in front of a stranger. She sniffed, tears streaming down her face now. "This is so embarrassing," she hiccuped.

Usually the sight of tears drove a man into panic mode, but Reggie surprised her. Coming around the fence, pulling off his other glove and tossing them onto the lawn, he rested his hands on her shoulders, stooping so he was at her height. "Hey," he murmured. "Don't worry about it. It's not something to be ashamed about; you miss your dad, that's completely rational."

Sniffling, she watched through her tears as he pulled the sleeve of his shirt over his wrists, reaching out to wipe her tears from one eye, then the other. She felt like a child again, being comforted by someone who felt like an older brother figure. It made her want to cry even harder, but she tried to reign her emotions in for the moment. The time for tears could wait another day, she'd cried enough lately. She sniffed one last time, covering her nose with her sleeve to hide how red and runny it was. "Thank you," she sniffed.

"Not a problem," he smiled. Glancing between his watch and the front door he said, "How late is your mom getting home from work?"

"Um." Pulling back the sleeve of her hoodie she glanced at her Pokétch. "In about three hours or so. She usually gets home close to nine, though."

"Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm making hamburgers tonight."

He was giving her such an innocent look that it was hard for her to refuse. A small giggle managed its way up, and she ducked her head slightly as it escaped. She wiped a stray tear from her eye as she looked back up at him. "I would love to join you for dinner, Mr. Shinji."

He smiled. "Please, call me Reggie; Mr. Shinji was my father."

Oh, just the fact that he could make a joke like that made her heart ache slightly. He held the gate open for her, and she smiled at him as she passed through. The grass on either side of the walk was a lush green, in better condition than possibly her own. She wondered idly how he'd managed to make it look so healthy in such a short time, but she figured she could ask him some other time. As she opened the door and peeked into the house, she figured that she should let her mother know what was going on. While Reggie went on through the living room into the kitchen, calling "Make yourself at home!" over his shoulder, Dawn pulled out her cell phone. She figured she might as well shut off the music for now; she removed the cord from the jack and stuffed her earbuds into her pocket. Pulling up her messages she found that she'd forgotten to send her last message to May.

_May would love to know what's happening now_. She grinned as she deleted the rough draft of her earlier message, writing up a new one to send. _You won't believe where I am_, she sent. She kept her phone unlocked in her hand as she made to follow Reggie, knowing that May's answer should be instantaneous.

_Ping-ping!_

Right on time.

Tapping on the message to open it, she perused its content, her grin threatening to break her face in two. _WHERE?_ May was demanding. Dawn's thumbs were lightning fast across the screen as she answered her best friend.

_Take a guess_, she answered. She was tempted to put a winky face just to tease the brunette, but she decided against it. It would have been too cruel, and possibly cause some misinterpretation on May's part. While she waited for May's reply she looked around the living room. Boxes sat against the wall bearing the name LIVING ROOM on them all. Her phone buzzed in her hand again; she glanced at it as she sat hesitantly on the couch. _TELL ME!_

Was the Shift key stuck on her phone again or something? Dawn wondered, amused. Rubbing her eyes lightly she texted back, _Paul's house. His brother invited me for dinner._ Belatedly she remembered that she needed to let her mother know where she was. Writing a brief message that told Johanna that she was at a friend's house for dinner. She left out the little tidbit that it was an all-male household and that Paul wasn't exactly her "friend." She wasn't even really sure what kind of relationship they had at the moment.

_Ping-ping!_

May again. _WHY?_ That Shift key most definitely must be stuck.

_I don't know, common courtesy? His name's Reggie, he seems nice._

A reply was immediate. _Sorry, the Shift button was stuck again._

_Knew it_, Dawn smirked. She continued reading the message.

_Is he cute? :D_

Dawn's face flushed slightly at the question. He was a little out of her age range, especially if he was in his twenties, which was highly likely. _I guess so_, she answered. _He's older, maybe about twenty-two or three. Too old for me._

_Oooh, older guy, huh? What's he look like?_

_Kind of like an older Paul, I guess. Darker hair, in a ponytail. Not as tan though._

_Still doesn't sound too bad lol._

Rolling her eyes, Dawn started typing out a reply, but a call from Reggie in the kitchen distracted her. She set her phone down figuring it was something that wouldn't take too long; it turned out he wanted to know if she'd like to help him make the hamburger patties. She smiled and agreed.

After washing her hands in the kitchen sink, she dried them on the towel hanging from the oven door handle. Then she set to work helping him make seasoned patties from the mound of hamburger meat. The meat was slightly squishy in her hands, and she squealed when some of it oozed between her fingers. Reggie laughed and helped her piece it back together. He seemed to know what he was doing in the kitchen—he hummed under his breath when he wasn't instructing her on where to put the finished patties; the ones they weren't using that night were going to go in the freezer for a different time.

When it came time to cook the patties, Reggie asked Dawn to grab a frying pan from a cabinet beside the oven. While she set to search for it he began to dice an onion he procured from who knew where on a cutting board. Once she found a pan, she set it on a stove eye, turning the dial to HI so it would heat up faster. She didn't have much else to do besides stand there and watch him chop the onion. Her eyes stung slightly from the onion's scent, but Reggie wasn't making through it easily. His eyes were watering, and every so often he had to wipe an arm across his face to get rid of the tears. When he finished, he took the cutting board and carried it over to the frying pan. Using the chopping knife he pushed the pieces of onion into the pan to sweat, turning the dial down to MED. He half-heartedly shooed her out of the kitchen then, saying he had everything else under control, but was thankful for her help.

Dawn skittered back into the living room, flopping onto the couch. Her phone bounced to the floor from her weight, and when she went to pick it up she noticed that her screen had locked. Bemused, she unlocked it and her message log with May came up again. There was a new one, about five or so minutes after she'd gone into the kitchen to help Reggie: _Are you ready for Saturday?_

Her brow furrowed in confusion. Saturday? What was going on Saturday? Then it hit her. "Oh no," she groaned, leaning her head against the back of the couch. Her battle with Paul was in two days—she'd completely forgotten. She had gotten sidetracked by her two day detention sentence.

"What's your problem?"

Dawn started a little, chills running from her scalp all the way down her back. Slightly frazzled now she glanced over her shoulder, gripping her phone tightly in her hand. Taking the last step of the staircase near the front door, Paul made his way through the living room, watching her with bored interest. He'd changed clothes, and in his hand he held a water bottle.

"N-nothing," she stammered, hastily sticking her phone in her hoodie pocket. Not that she really had anything to hide, his presence and her unlocked phone in the same room made her nervous.

He grunted slightly, eyeing her on his way around the couch. "Why are you in my house? I thought you went home." He took a swig from his bottle.

Biting lightly at the inside of her cheek she said, "Reggie invited me for dinner since my mom won't be home for a few hours. You make it sound like I'm invading your close personal space." She muttered the last part so he wouldn't hear her.

His eyes narrowed slightly at her, possibly in suspicion, but he shook his head and continued around the couch and into the kitchen. Dawn wondered if he was going to eat with her and Reggie. Voices drifted through the doorway into the living room, and Dawn's curiosity got the better of her for the moment. She scooted over the cushion toward the couch arm, leaning against the back of the couch until she was comfortable. Their voices were soft and kind of hard to hear, but Dawn was still able to make out Paul's still-hoarse voice asking why she was staying for dinner. He didn't sound hostile, just his usual bored self asking his older brother a question. It still struck her as slightly odd, though; but she didn't dwell on it too long.

Sighing, she pushed herself to her feet, making her way toward the kitchen doorway. Peeking her head around she saw them standing near the stove, Reggie tending to the burgers and Paul leaning against the counter by the fridge. They were still talking in hushed tones, but when when Paul noticed her looking in on them he shut his mouth quick, giving her a cold glance. Reggie, noticing his brother's sudden silence, looked toward the doorway.

"Um, I need to run home real quick to check on my cat. Our Glameow is pregnant and needs food soon or else she'll go nuts with hunger."

Reggie nodded. "I can see how that would be a problem. The burgers should be ready by the time you get back." He smiled at her, causing her to blush slightly.

"Y-yeah. I'll be right back." Casting one last glance at Paul's sour look she scampered through the living room to grab her book bag, then into the foyer and out the front door. She jogged down the sidewalk to her house, glancing at Barry's house as she went. She didn't see his mom's car in the driveway and there weren't any lights shining from the windows in the darkening evening. They must have gone out, she figured as she fished for her house key. Once inside she dropped her book bag on the couch and began her search for Glammy.

"Here kitty, kitty," she cooed, shaking the box of Pokémon cat food that Glammy loved. The pellets rattled inside the cardboard box as Dawn tried to lure the cat out from wherever she was hiding, but apparently the Catty Pokémon didn't want to be found. _I hope she's okay_. Gabite was still somewhere in the yard so she figured she'd let Tobasu and Piplup out in her room before looking on the second floor, maybe they could help her find Glammy. The two were more than happy to be of service.

Grimacing, Dawn tried upstairs. She listened for anything that could give away Glammy's location, shaking the food now and then. It was when she was passing the bathroom did she freeze, straining her ears in the silence. There were faint noises coming through the slight opening; she pushed the door softly, trying to look around the door. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Oh, Glammy!" she cried softly. Opening the door wider, she tiptoed over the linoleum to where her cat was nestled between the tub and the toilet. Glammy had dragged the bath mat over to lay on, and on the mat were three newborn kittens. They were mewling pathetically, possibly in fear of Dawn's sudden proximity. She backed off immediately, scrambling back downstairs for Glammy's food and water bowl. Tobasu followed her up the stairs while Piplup went to go fetch Gabite from the back yard.

Once Dawn had put some food and water down for the new mother she sat back and watched as the kittens continued to mewl. Tobasu and Gabite peered over her shoulders at the kittens while Piplup sat at her feet, chirping his happiness. Dawn smiled down at her penguin, glancing over her shoulder at Gabite. It seemed to be settling in fine so far, thank goodness. Regrettably, she had to pull herself away from the sight of the baby Glameows, dimming the lights in the bathroom and leaving the door ajar behind them. Glammy would need a way out of the bathroom if she needed to go somewhere.

_I should probably get back to their house_, Dawn mused. Pulling her hood over her head, she opened the front door. She told her Pokémon to let Glammy be alone and to not mess with her kittens. Making sure they understood her before she went out the door, she looked pointedly down at Piplup. He looked up at her, innocence shining in his eyes, making Dawn laugh before she headed down the front path through her yard. It was darker out now, the late summer weather cooler than what it had been earlier. She was glad she'd pulled her hood up.

Using the lit screen of her phone as a temporary flash light she made her way back down the sidewalk toward the Shinji household. She glanced at Barry's house again. Still dark. Flipping her phone over she opened her messages again, typing up a group message to May, Misty, Leaf, her mom, and Ash about the kittens. Ash had given her his number if she ever needed someone else to talk to. It was handy that he had.

She smiled after she sent the message, and when she turned her phone back toward the ground she was blinded for a moment, her eyes unadjusted to the dimness. The closest street light was on the corner about twenty yards away, but that didn't help her to see very much. It also didn't help that the bulb had blown the month before, either. Dawn grumbled slightly as she walked blindly for a few feet before she could see again. When she could, she stopped walking.

In front of the Shinji house stood Paul. He was leaning against the fence that lined their yard, the glow of the phone he held in his hand lighting his face. His thumb was moving over the screen; she figured he was texting, or maybe even playing a game. What was he doing outside anyway?

"Um." She was two yards or so away from him, but her soft utterance still caught his attention. He looked at her coolly as she awkwardly on the sidewalk, tugging the hood of her hoodie further to cover her face. "What are you doing out here?" she finally managed.

Silently he pushed away from the fence, stashing his phone into his pants pocket. He opened the gate, looking over at her expectantly. Belatedly she figured out that he was waiting for her to enter the yard behind him. She scurried after him, the gate slamming softly shut behind her. It seemed like something had changed his mood for the evening, he even opened the door for her, again! Dawn flushed as she hurried inside, grateful that he couldn't see her face.

It was warmer in the living room, and she struggled slightly with getting the bottom of the hoodie over her head as she took it off. Her shirt tried to go with it, exposing her stomach and lower back. She managed to quickly grab the hem of it before it was pulled up any further, folding and setting the hoodie on the arm of the couch. There was a sharp intake of breath behind her, but when she looked over her shoulder Paul was as seemingly bored and collected as usual. _Strange_. She frowned, brushing it off as she headed into the kitchen to greet Reggie again.

Dinner was ready.

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><p><strong>AN**: Eh, I know, odd way to end a chapter. Ah well.

After all the writing I did, I needed a nap lol

Oh yes, I received multiple emails concerning reviews, five of them reviews about the sixth chapter and some others follows and favorites. I'm so glad that people are enjoying my stories, even if it's slowly updated lol Thank you for everyone who follows this, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :)


	8. BOOK ONE END: The Morning

**A/N**: ._. Um. I'm actually not sure what to say this time.

First, I guess an apology is in order. Ever since my last upload for this story back in May of last year I've found out just how hard it is being an adult. Work, school, social life, and everything else pretty much occupied my time. It sounds kind of crazy, like, I could probably find some time in between everything when I had some time to myself, right? **Nope.**

I was stuck between everything, drama happened, being broke happened over and over. The only thing that has saved me since last spring is that I still live at home; I probably would have been homeless had I not been. I'd just like to say how grateful I was when I realized how lucky I actually am for the fact that my parents will still talk to me, claim me, and love me. I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't able to feel this because of a number of reasons, and I hope that whoever does finds some sort of solace in their life. There's someone or something that can make you feel worthwhile if nothing else will :)

Either way, on to something that's been long overdue these past few months.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.**

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><p>"<em>So how was dinner at Paul's last night?<em>" May asked over the phone the next morning.

Dawn was on her way to school, her back pack slung over her shoulder and her hoodie threaded through the space between the shoulder straps. Grimacing as she stepped over a crack in the sidewalk, she said, "Kind of awkward. Paul was silent the entire time—only thing he did was grunt or nod his head if Reggie spoke to him."

"_Well, at least he didn't say anything rude, right?_" Her voice sounded distance for a moment as she said, "_Hey, out of my room!_" Hopefully it was to someone else. Dawn supposed she was talking to her brother Max.

"_I just wanted to know if I could borrow your calculator_," she heard Max reply.

"_It's on my desk._"

"Is that Max?" Dawn asked, nestling her phone between her shoulder and ear while she pulled the other strap onto her shoulder. It was starting to hurt with just one.

"_Yeah, wanted to borrow my calculator before heading off to school._"

"I heard. Are you heading out soon? We've got—" she glanced at her Pokétch "—ten minutes to be in first period, and if I don't pick up the pace I won't make it through the gate. It's bad enough I already have detention again today, I don't need another hour of after school torture." She quickened her steps, her sneakers helping bounce her down the road. _So glad I wore real shoes instead of sandals_, she thought gratefully.

"_Haha, that's true. It's a good thing I live about two minutes away from the school. I'm about to head out in a couple minutes, I just need to get my shoes on. See you in third period?_"

"You bet. Bye, May."

"_Laters._"

Ending the call and locking her phone, she started to run with it clutched in her hand. _Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall_, she chanted silently the entire way. She wasn't worried only about her phone—hopefully her Poké Balls would survive the run as well. _Oh, God, please don't let ANYTHING fall!_ she pleaded with fate.

She got lucky for once.

.

.

.

The cafeteria was as loud as ever at lunch time. Dawn watched them idly as she ate her own lunch at the table she shared with her friends. No matter how much she hated the school lunch, she hated asking her tired mother for a packed lunch even more, and Dawn knew that she was too lazy to make one the night before. So she figured it wouldn't kill her to eat the cafeteria food at least every once in a while. _Maybe it would have been a good thing if I'd gotten off my lazy butt this morning to put something together_, she mused internally as she poked at what she guessed was chicken salad. Or was it tuna salad? It was hard to tell anymore with what the cafeteria workers could come up with in that kitchen of theirs.

Her reverie was broken when May and Leaf plopped down on their side of the table. Well, it was more like the slam of May's tray startled Dawn's attention back to reality. When she looked up she saw an irate May and a seemingly amused Leaf. "What happened?" she asked, both concerned and curious.

In reply May grumbled to herself, and proceeded to poke at the chicken (tuna?) salad on her tray while Leaf gave Dawn a Cheshire grin. "May's got an admirer."

Dawn's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Someone's actually taken a liking to our tomboyish best friend?"

The brunette in question huffed in indignation. "I'm not a tomboy anymore!" she defended. "That was when we were kids, and that was years ago."

"Do you still pull out those overalls from grade school to stare longingly at them sometimes?"

May spluttered in embarrassment, her face burning like Rudolph's nose at Christmas time. "Wh-what!"

The other two laughed at their friend's expense. "We're just teasing you May. We know you're not a tomboy anymore," Leaf said in consolation. May just huffed at her again.

"Aw, come on. Say you forgive us." Dawn grabbed one of the baby carrots on her tray. "Here, we know you love carrots. Take this as a peace offering."

Eyeing the carrot for a second, May seemed to be thinking of agreeing. Then she leaned forward, grabbing the carrot out of Dawn's hand effectively with her teeth.

"Ack! May, you almost got my fingers," Dawn laughed, wiping her hand on her pants. The brunette just grinned at her as she chewed the carrot.

"Never dangle food in my face, fingers may go flying," she said as she swallowed. They all laughed a little too loud, attracting attention from most of the other cafeteria goers.

"I can't be gone for ten minutes without you three causing mayhem, can you?"

Dawn lowered the carrot that had been aimed for May's waiting mouth. They'd been having target practice, Dawn tossing halved carrots to see if May could catch them in her mouth. Only a few had missed so far. "Oh, hey Misty."

The red head sat beside her blue-haired friend, setting her tray down on the table. "What the heck would you guys do without me to watch you?"

"Hey, it's not like we're trying to burn the school down or anything," Leaf said innocently. Misty only raised an eyebrow in response. "Okay, that happened once and only because May's Torchic got loose!"

"The teachers were chasing him! What would you expect a Pokémon that young to do if they were cornered?" May defended. Her Torchic had just learned its first fire type move, and on the same day it had been accidentally released in the hallway during her first year. The teachers had to chase him down outside and corner him; he'd proceeded to spit flames at them, effectively driving them away and catching some of the lawn on fire. May had been seriously reprimanded for it afterward. "It wasn't even my fault," she grumbled now, poking at her lunch again.

"We know, May, it was probably some idiot who wanted to get a kick out of causing havoc."

"That's the only reason I can think of," Dawn offered. Taking a bite of a carrot she looked over at Misty. "Oh yeah, May's got some good news, Misty." She grinned at her friend as the brunette glared miserably back.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, Dawn." Setting down a glob of the unknown meat salad, Leaf looked up at Misty with a good-natured gleam in her eyes. "May has an admirer in her and Dawn's contest class."

Misty's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Really? Someone likes our tomboy?"

Dawn and Leaf exploded into laughter as May's face flushed a deep red. "That's what we said!" Dawn managed. Her stomach hurt slightly from their giggles.

May covered her face in embarrassment, wanting to crawl under their table to hide from the looks that they were getting from the other students. She really wished Dawn and Leaf would shut up and stop teasing her.

"Okay," Leaf gasped. "I can't—I can't breathe!" They started laughing even harder.

Acting as the mediator, Misty put a hand on each of her chittering friends's head. Grasping their hair lightly between her fingers, she made them look at her as she said, "All right, you two. I think she gets it." They both gave her a few more giggles before they clamped their mouths shut for good. At least May hoped so.

"So who is this mysterious admirer?"

May sighed and cupped her chin with her hand as she leaned forward. "His name's Drew, and he's not my admirer. I met him for the first time in Harley's class on Wednesday. He wouldn't help pick up desks and chairs after Dawn's Gabite got out of its Poké Ball. Leaf only knows about him because I thought she could keep her mouth shut." She leveled a glare at the other brunette who had the nerve to look contrite.

"How'd you get the Gabite anyway, Dawn?" Seemed like May thought a change of topic was in order.

Popping a carrot piece into her mouth Dawn shrugged. "You remember that small forest fire near my house earlier this week? Apparently Topaz and the Gabite got into an argument over something, I have no idea what. The Gabite belonged to Paul, and he basically forced the Pokémon on me for some weird reason. Wouldn't even tell me why he was even out there in the first place." She muttered the last sentence petulantly, stabbing her mystery salad with her plastic fork.

"So now you have two dragon Pokémon?" Leaf twirled one of her carrots across the table, leaving a trail of small water beads in its wake.

Dawn leaned back in her cafeteria-issued chair. "Mm-hm," she hummed. "I basically got Gabite free of charge, no effort at all. It doesn't make me happy, though." Crossing her arms over her chest she frowned down at her knees. "If I catch a Pokémon, I want to have done it of my own power, not some form of charity."

"What if you traded him for it?"

The blunette looked at her red-headed friend. "Traded? What do you mean?"

"Well," Misty explained, "if you catch something that he might actually like and gave him in exchange for Gabite, then you two would be equal, right?"

It appeared the older girl had a point. Just accepting the Gabite without giving a Pokémon in return didn't seem very fair to Dawn, even if he'd told her to her face that it was weak and useless. That didn't mean she had to give up the chance to go hunting for dragons again. "All right." The end of lunch bell rang as she pushed away from the table and grabbed her tray. "After my last session of detention today, I'll go look for a dragon to give him for Gabite. It's only fair."'

"Sounds like a plan to me," May agreed. Standing and picking up her own tray, she followed behind her blunette friend to dump what remained of her food; Misty and Leaf did the same. Once they tossed their trash, they raced against the clock to get to their respective fifth period classes on time.

* * *

><p><em>And it begins once again.<em>

Dawn sighed as she settled into her chair as her second and final day of after school detention began. The classroom door shut behind the few late-goers who were trickling in, and the teacher stuck a sign on the door's window stating that no one was to disturb them. He sat in his chair behind the desk, pulling a book from his briefcase on the floor beside him. The blunette watched him through hooded eyes as she rested her chin on the desk top. The man was a slow reader she deduced, as his eyes scanned the page at a rate probably below even her own.

She started zoning out from the sheer boredom that surrounded her, until someone tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she jumped at the light pressure, glancing behind her to find who touched her. Behind her sat a boy maybe Ash's age with equally spiky brown hair, his emerald eyes flashing with mischief as he grinned at her. Something about him seemed familiar, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

When he crooked a finger at her, signalling for her to come closer, she hesitated a moment before leaning ever so slightly over the back of her chair. He whispered, "What's a good-looking girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Face burning in embarrassment, Dawn moved away from him. She stared at him in bewilderment as he chuckled. "I didn't mean it like that," he said in a low voice. "I meant, what's a goody like you doing in detention? You don't look like much of a trouble maker to me."

She grimaced as her face returned to its natural color. "I didn't cause any trouble. My Pokémon got loose in contest class and the teacher sent me to the principal."

He gave a low whistle. The teacher at the front of the room glanced up from his book at the small sound—Dawn whipped around in her seat, slouching down in the chair and pulling the hood of her hoodie over her head. Today wasn't a day for her to get in trouble while she was already in detention, she wanted her freedom again. The guy started poking at her again, but she grit her teeth and tried to ignore him. But when he tugged at her hood she whipped her head around to glare at him out of the corner of her eye. He just gave her a cheeky grin, like he had a secret to tell or something. "What're you doing after detention?" he asked instead.

Was he throwing her for a loop? All Dawn could do was stare at him as she turned to face him again. "I'm going home of course," she muttered. It wasn't a lie—she really was going to go home after she got out of detention. But then she was going to go out with her team back to the forest to hunt down a dragon to catch. Not like he would really care to know that.

"Why don't you come hang with us in the forest instead. My friend and I feel like shiny hunting, you could join us and add to your team's repertoire? Not that you probably need it." He gave her another cheeky grin. What was he talking about?

"What?" She was becoming more confused with every word he uttered to her.

"Word about your Flygon spread pretty quick around the school. It's been a pretty common topic for the past few days. So, what do you say?"

The fact that people were still talking about her bothered her. Was it really so surprising that she finally caught something on her own? His words insulted her pride. "No thanks," she said after a moment of silence. "Sounds too much like you're trying to butter up to me." With that she turned around, plugging her earbuds into her ears and putting her head down. She effectively ignored him the rest of detention, even with his constant pestering. When the dismissal bell sounded she got out of there as fast as her feet could carry her, her music blocking out the guy's voice as he called after her.

.

.

.

After making sure that Glammy and the kittens were taken care of, Dawn locked the door behind her as she headed off. It was cooler out than during the morning so she'd traded her hoodie for a heavier jacket and a scarf. As she wrapped it around her neck and covered her nose, she walked to the end of her street, stepping from pavement to grass. Her hand brushed the Poké Balls clipped to her belt, reminding her she had her team with her for support. _I've got this_, she thought as trees began to close in around her. _No worries._

After about an hour of searching through the forest she started to think differently. The shade from the trees made the forest floor cool and dark, making it difficult sometimes to see where she was going. For the longest time she tripped over almost everything in her path, at least until she reached the scorched clearing finally. Cold sunlight shone down on the blackened grass, ash puffing up into a cloud with every footstep she made. It was silent in the clearing, so still and empty that it gave Dawn the chills as she tugged her scarf tighter around her neck. An idea popped into her head as she stood there, looking around at the ruined landscape. Reaching a hand for her belt, she grabbed all three Balls, tossing them into the air.

For the next few hours she trained her team in the ashy field. They worked on their team work, reaction time, and accuracy. By the time she even realized it, it was dark, the moon shining almost as bright as the sun above them. Leaning against one of the blackened trees, she rubbed some stray ash from her face as she reached for her Poké Balls. All three of her Pokémon were exhausted, it was plain as day on all of their faces, even in the moonlight. It wasn't until she was making her way back through the trees that she remembered her original purpose for coming into the forest. Groaning, she covered her face with her hands, leaning against the closest tree. It was so late, how could she find a dragon in the dark? Maybe it could wait until tomorrow.

Slightly disappointed—but satisfied at the same time—she made her way home. There was some confliction mixed in, though, and every so often she would kick at a fallen log that was in her way. It was so hard to not feel agitated with herself, and she could feel herself getting crabbier by the moment, especially when she decided to go through some low hanging branches. The leaves crackled as she pushed them out of the way. One of them slipped through her fingers, smacking her flat in the face. She growled in annoyance, striking at the branch angrily until it moved, then stomped through the underbrush the rest of the way home.

* * *

><p>The following morning snuck up on her. Sunlight seeped beneath Dawn's curtains as she dozed under her covers, Piplup beside her on his own pillow and Tobasu curled at her feet. Both Pokémon snored softly in their sleep, Piplup twitching slightly. His little flipper feet kicked as he dreamed, running him through his imagination. One stray foot knocked Dawn in the nose, instantly forcing her awake. She gave a sharp cry, her hands flying to her face. Touching her throbbing nose brought tears to her eyes; she turned them to glare at Piplup as he continued to dream innocently and unknowingly. She sighed, muttering under her breath as she rolled over. Springs squeaked slightly as she touched her feet to the floor, yawning as she padded over to the window.<p>

_I can still hear that stupid alarm clock_, she mused silently. A distinct shrill sound was still buzzing from the bushes below outside. _Maybe I really should go get it one of these days_. She pulled back the curtain to look outside. _Then again, it's entertaining to watch the Ratata try to figure out what it is._ This thought amused her; she smiled as she let go of the curtain, padding back to grab her Pokétch from her nightstand. Going through the process of buckling it to her wrist, she finally took a moment to see what time it was.

"_WAKE UP!_" she shrilled, pulling the duvet out from beneath Tobasu, simultaneously scaring Piplup awake. Both Pokémon looked around in bewilderment, their searching eyes landing on their deranged trainer. "Wake up, we're going to be late!"

Today was the day for her battle with Paul and she was going to be late! Granted, they'd never actually set a time for them to meet, but Dawn figured getting there sometime early in the day would probably be the best time. At the moment though, she was scrambling around her room trying to get dressed. The bedroom door creaked open slightly as Gabite poked its head around to look inside. It had apparently heard her scream from where it had been outside resting.

All three Pokémon watched as Dawn shed her night clothes, almost trip across her bedroom floor as she pulled on some pants, and finally grab her coat from the back of the closet door. Shooing them into the hallway she grabbed all three of her Poké Balls and clipped them to her belt. They all raced down the steps, making a quick pit stop in the kitchen to feed Glammy and for a to-go breakfast that consisted of Pop-Tarts and a couple muffins. Laughing as Tobasu got blueberries stuck on its face, Dawn locked the door behind them as they ran down the front walk. Since it was Saturday, Johanna would be working her usual job until early afternoon, so Dawn didn't call a good-bye before racing down the sidewalk.

.

.

.

The clearing was silent as Tobasu lighted in one of the few cleared circles of ash. Dawn had returned Piplup and Gabite to their Balls so they could easily fly to the field instead of running, and it seemed to have saved them some time. There seemed to be nobody in the field except for a few stray Stunky that were racing through the blackened debris. Aside from their playful squeals as they ran up a tree, everything was still as she returned Tobasu to its ball. Silently she waded through the thick ash, probably staining her boots beyond repair; they weren't her worry though.

A sudden wind swept through the field just then, sending swirls of ash through the air. One cycloned around her for a moment before flying off on the breeze. The thought of just where all that ash went poked at her brain again, just like the other day. She shook it away though, her ponytail shaking even harsher against its binding. Dust stung her eyes as it continued to fly, but it soon settled as quickly as the wind had picked it up. Throughly irritated now, Dawn swiped impatiently at her eyes so she could see without them burning.

"You're actually early, Troublesome."

Through her gritty eyelashes she could barely see him across the clearing. The ash surrounding Paul was still settling; a perfect circle was around him, the dead grass that was revealed almost as black as the ash. A smug smirk spread across his face, a Poké Ball in one hand. He clipped the ball back to his belt, bringing his arm back up to stuff his hands into his pockets.

_Whatever's in there must have made the wind_, Dawn figured, letting out a small cough. She must have accidentally swallowed some of the ash. Brushing the back of her hand across her mouth, she said, "Ever heard the saying that the early bird gets the worm?"

Scoff. That's all he did in response to her remark, which she thought was quite witty one compared to what she could have said. _Fine then_. Puffing her bangs away from her face—she still needed that haircut—she frowned as she pulled Gabite's Ball from her belt. Realization of what was about to go on struck her then; heat flowed freely through her veins. Adrenaline accompanied it, making her heart pound and her thoughts race in time with each other. She didn't know whether it was from excitement, anxiety, frustration—it was an emotion that she couldn't put her finger on at the moment, but she didn't really care. All she really knew was that she wanted to win this battle, rub it in Paul's face when she metaphorically beat his smug smirk into the ground. She'd worked hard with all three of her Pokémon the day before, she wasn't going to let all that training just go to waste.

After a few moments of silence and hard staring she said, "Are we going to battle, or are we just going to stand here and talk about how pretty I am?" _Whoa._ Where did the courage to say that even come from, she wondered almost incredulously. The bravado of her voice startled her for a moment, but she managed to cover it up with a cool smile.

The smirk disappeared from his face, his hands pulling from his pockets to cross across his chest. He seemed unaffected by both her bravery and her smile; she would have thought that he hadn't even seen it if weren't for the slight blush that crossed his face just then. He looked away from her, a stiff movement. Closing his eyes and taking a few steps, he all but slammed shut the brief window of opportunity to chip at his cold demeanor he'd pretty much given her.

One of the Balls at his belt twitched in response to his movement; he reached for it. It flipped through the air as he tossed it high, red and white blurring together as it spun. A pop sounded as it opened and released the creature inside it. Froslass floated gently to the ground, moving her kimono-like arms in a secret dance that only she seemed to know. The Snow Land Pokémon hovered before her trainer, her eyes mimicking the scorn that shown in Paul's eyes as they both watched Dawn reach for a ball as well, tossing it straight in front of her.

Gabite's feet pounded the ground as it landed before her, spreading its clawed toes in the ash and dirt beneath it. It stared hard at Froslass, baring its fangs in an act of intimidation. "You ready?" Dawn called. Gabite peered over its shoulder at her, giving her a sharp-toothed grin. _Whenever you are_, it said. She mirrored her partner's smile, pointed her finger in the opponents' direction, and said, "Let's do this."

It was on.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I've literally had this on my computer since I'd posted chapter seven, I just kind of quit every now and then because of life ^^;

Ah, well. I'm not sure how well this chapter is actually written because of how long it took to finish it, but I hope everybody will be able to overlook that. Hope y'all enjoyed for what it was worth :P


	9. BOOK TWO: The Rematch

**A/N**: Well then. I can't believe it's taken me this long to post this. I finished it about three months ago, but school has just gotten so crazy :( I'm currently working on chapter 10, it might be a while (again) before it's posted since I need to focus more on school than I have been. Sorry again about the wait. Also, my apologies if the battle doesn't meet expectations, I'm still working on my battle scenes.

****Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.****

* * *

><p>About twenty or so yard away Paul stood behind his Froslass on their side of the makeshift battlefield. There was such a cold light in his eyes as he looked across the grass at her. It wasn't like he didn't give her the same look most of the time at school; it was different this time, though. His gaze sent chills down her spine. Rolling her shoulders in an attempt to brush the eery feeling away, she spread her feet to balance herself better. "Age before beauty?" she called, grinning.<p>

Scoffing, Paul brushed her taunt into the wind. Waved his hand in her general direction. He was giving her the first shot.

"Fine by me," she muttered. Leaning forward on the balls of her feet she called, "Gabite, Dragon Claw!"

In a motion so swift she barely saw it, Gabite crossed its arms in the shape of an X. An eerie light began to emit from both its claws, shining an ethereal blue. Then it moved too fast for the eye to see. The force of Gabite flying forward blew Dawn's hair into her face and ash in puffs before her; a cloud trailed behind the Pokemon as it raced directly at Froslass.

There was no hesitation. Paul crossed his arms. "Ice Shard."

Froslass was gone before Gabite could reach the Snow Land Pokemon, floating out of its reach. The Dragon Claw was wasted, Gabite slashing uselessly at the space Froslass had previously occupied. Energy from the attack glowed in an empty arc inches from Paul's face. Any other spectator might have thought that it was a miss on Gabite's part, but Paul could tell it had been a close call on purpose. The two stared at each for a long second before Gabite stumbled backward. A large shard of ice pierced the ground between it and Paul. More began to rain down from above. While the Land Shark Pokemon dodged the shards as best it could, it noticed the smug expression Paul wore. The boy stood there, his arms crossed as he watched Dawn's Pokemon hobble around as its sandpapery skin was being cut more and more by the sharp ice.

On the other side of the field Dawn was having problems as well. More than once she had to sidestep shards to keep from getting a deep gash on her leg or arm—one even whizzed by her hair. She swore she could hear the sound of it catching a few strands, shearing right through them. When she was able to gain stable ground again, she pushed as close to the edge of the field as she would dare, calling out, "Gabite, keep dodging! Try to use Dragon Claw one more time!"

Dust peppered the air as Gabite skidded across the grass. Both Pokemon's and trainer's attention was caught by Froslass above them. She'd began to give off an eerie, whispery wail. It wasn't very audible, but was enough so that Dawn could hear her from where she stood a good twenty or so feet from the Pokemon. From side to side Froslass swayed, holding their eyes with her captivating dance. Everything around them seemed to still, the trees and wind going silent. Maybe it was just Dawn's mind playing a trick on her, but it was growing colder, even more so than it should for the time of the year. Was this a special skill for Froslass, or did all Ghost types have this unseen ability?

The hypnotism was broken by Paul's voice. "Ice Beam."

Before Gabite was able to recover, Frolass held her hands in front of her face, aimed, and fired a bright beam of ice shards at Gabite. Glittering in the light as it bombarded Gabite, it send the Cave Pokemon flying. Wails of sheer terror and pain came from Gabite as it landed in the grass, rolling through the ash and coming to a stop at Dawn's feet.

"Gabite!" Dawn knelt next to the Pokemon, her hands hovering above its sandy skin. Just a few inches separated them, but the chill of the ice that coated it from its shoulders to its hind legs reached her palms. It didn't take much to realize that it was done fighting. If she pushed it anymore it might fall to pieces in pain right in front of her. She couldn't do that to it, it was bad enough that she'd forgotten how much Ice types affected Ground types—they were double-effective, she realized much too late. "I'm sorry, Gabite," she whispered as she pointed the Poke Ball at the poor, damaged creature. As the red beam shot out to return it back into the capsule, Gabite gave Dawn a weak grin. Then it was gone, back to rest inside its small home.

Dawn gripped the Ball tightly, holding it close to her face. "You did well." The ball rocked weakly in her hand, acknowledging and accepting her praise. Clipping the ball back to her belt, she pulled out the one beside it. "Piplup, spotlight!"

Before the red beam was even gone, Piplup was in a rage. He was yelling in agitation at Paul and Froslass. Apparently, he'd been conscious of everything that had been going on outside of his Ball, even Gabite's painful cries. It was obvious he was mad that his newest friend was in pain. The little penguin continued to berate Paul in his own language, pounding on his chest with his flipper then pointing at Paul accusingly.

All Paul and Froslass could do was stare at Piplup's display of anger. They looked at each other for a moment, as if silently asking the other if the penguin was even worth their time. Piplup began his tirade once more when they ignored him, screeching at a volume he could surprisingly hit. Something seemed to hit home with Froslass, since she held a hand out in Piplup's direction. From where she stood, Dawn saw that she was readying another Ice Shard, sans direction. _That's never a good sign._ Dawn figured that Piplup had struck a nerve in the Snow Land's seemingly calm demeanor. The only thing that stopped her from firing was Paul muttering something to her as he held her Poke Ball in his hand. She looked at her trainer for a moment, glancing over her shoulder at Piplup and Dawn. Before she was returned she flicked her wrist, sending a large needle of ice flying at Piplup. It landed at his feet, startling both of them.

Froslass's disobedience bothered Dawn. "You say I'm not fit to be a trainer, yet your Pokemon seem to do what they want even if you tell them no," she called, hoping to break Paul's confidence at least a little. He ignored her though, pulling out his next ball without even looking at her. This time he chose Torterra, the ground shaking at its massive feet slammed into the ground. His choice didn't surprise her, she already knew it had been in his team somewhere since he only had three Poke Balls clipped to his belt. What she didn't know was what this go around with yield, especially with how bad it was last time with Tobasu. All she could do was hope and have belief in her and Piplup's abilities.

"Piplup, start off with a Bubble Beam!" Light began to emit from Piplup's beak as he opened it wide, shooting a stream of bubbles right for Torterra's face.

Water attacks weren't very effective against the massive Grass/Ground Pokemon, but offense wasn't exactly the motive for using the move. The bubbles gathered around Torterra's face long enough to block its vision, giving Piplup an advantage. Torterra shook its heavy head in an attempt to disperse the bubbles, but they stuck like a sticky web. "Now Ice Beam!" While Torterra had been blinded, Piplup had rushed across the grass as fast as his waddling legs could carry him. By the time the Continent Pokemon was able to see again Piplup was right in front of it. Its eyes widened in surprise as Piplup opened its beak once more, a bright beam of ice shooting from its mouth at Torterra's face.

The force of Piplup's attack slowly pushed Torterra back, its feet digging up grass. Since it was both Grass and Ground the attack caused an immense amount of damage. Torterra didn't give in, though. One by one, it pushed its feet forward, slowly making the beam give way. Using strong resilience and will it broke Piplup's attack.

"Torterra, Giga Drain!"

"Piplup, _dodge it!_" Dawn remembered what had happened to Tobasu when Torterra's vines had gotten a hold of it, she didn't want to see that happen to Piplup too. "Dodge it, then Drill Peck!"

As she spoke, Torterra's vines sprouted from its massive shell, shooting out to grab at Piplup. At the last second Piplup aimed a spout of water at the ground, shooting him up and out of Torterra's aim. The vines grabbed at empty air; Torterra looked up to find Piplup, but was blinded by the bright sun behind him. With him being so high in the air and the sun giving him an advantage, Piplup decided to use his falling momentum to add to his attack. As he fell, he began to spin like a corkscrew, slowly gaining speed. From the trainers' point of view he looked like a small blue comet falling from the sky.

"Torterra, don't just stand there! Stone Edge!"

Trying to see around the sun's glare, blue rings surrounded Torterra as it prepared its attack. Its eyes glowing green, the rings transformed into levitating stones of varying size. For a moment they orbited its body, then fired at Piplup as he plummeted down.

With his speed, Piplup was able to avoid a majority of the rocks, but some were too big to pass by without taking damage. He didn't let it stop him or slow him down, though. Even as Torterra shot Stone Edge at him multiple times he landed his attack successfully on the Continent Pokemon's broad back. The force of it shoved Torterra multiple inches into the ground. A look of sheer pain crossed its face and it gave a loud roar. Piplup continued to spin though, pushing Torterra even further into the soil beneath its feet. After a few long seconds Torterra's legs finally gave in, collapsing beneath it as the large Pokemon fell to the ground in defeat.

Both trainers stood in disbelief as Piplup stumbled dizzily off of Torterra's back, Dawn's in happy surprise and Paul's in silent outrage. "Useless," she could hear him mutter as he returned the exhausted Torterra to its Ball. She ignored any taunts that danced across her tongue as she congratulated her tired Piplup.

"Good job!" she said as he jumped into her arms. "You actually beat his Torterra. I'm so proud of you, Piplup." She held him close, Piplup crying out in joy. "You deserve a rest." Holding up his Poke Ball she returned him. His victory had caused something to light inside of Dawn, an even brighter feeling of triumph as she looked across the field at Paul. It was hard to keep a smirk from her face, she just felt like she could actually win this!

"It's not over yet," he called. "We still have one more each."

He was right. Dawn still had Tobasu left and Paul had his mysterious third party member. That anticipation from earlier was back, making her twitch again. Just what Pokemon had he been hiding the past few days? She didn't have to wait very long. They both threw their Poke Balls at the same time. Tobasu appeared before her, flapping its wings to keep it afloat before dropping to its feet. Dawn didn't pay any attention to the ash that it scattered, she was too enraptured by Paul's Pokemon. When he had thrown the capsule, the Pokemon hadn't come out immediately like Tobasu had. It landed with a soft thud on the ground, rolling slightly. Then it busted from the Ball in a large flash of fire. _Such a showoff_, Dawn thought, but then all her thoughts froze when she saw what Pokemon the red beam formed.

No.

_No, no, no_.

It was impossible. Dawn refused to believe what she was seeing, how could she not? Rubbing at her eyes, she hoped to erase the image before her, but no go. Still she wouldn't admit it, but there was no denying it was true: across the field her beloved shiny Charizard had just appeared out of the Ball. Her childhood friend had been captured and made a part of Paul's team. How could that have happened? Stumbling backward in disbelief, Dawn tripped over a hidden root in the grass. She fell ungracefully onto her elbows, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out. Tears sprang to her eyes as she rolled to her hands and knees. As she raised her head, there was an accusatory light that mingled with tears as she glared at Paul. But he seemed to ignore her hateful stare, looking somewhere behind her.

He did this on purpose.

Climbing to her feet as swiftly as possible, she brushed as much dust and ash from her clothes as possible. She gave up shortly after realizing that it wasn't helping. This wasn't the time to be worrying about her ruined wardrobe—she had to fight back, to retaliate in the only way she knew how. "Tobasu." The Flygon bent its long neck to look over its shoulder at her. "Even if it is Topaz, don't go easy on it. It's a strong Charizard." Swallowing a lump in her throat she whispered, "I should know."

Dawn's words seem to make Tobasu uneasy. It glanced at her once more before turning to face their opponents. Energy began to buzz off the both of them as the adrenaline returned. The two of them were about to attempt something many had probably failed to do before them: fight the strongest shiny in the forest.

Across the field Topaz stood hunched in front of Paul. When the boy said something to the Charizard, its wings flicked in recognition of his words, but it didn't make another move. It just stood there looking down at the ground, its tail dragging along back and forth in the ash. It didn't seem to want to fight, then Paul said something to it. The flame at the tip of its tail flared when the Charizard caught his words. Its eyes narrowing in agitation, it glanced sharply at the young trainer. Growls carried across the field to Dawn and Tobasu, both of whom were just standing there waiting for something to happen. They expected some sort of attack or retort to come their way, or at least something to get the battle back on. What they weren't expecting was Topaz to lash out at Paul.

"Topaz!" Dawn watched as her beloved friend swiped at the boy once more. He dodged it easily, stepping back each time the Charizard tried to grab him with its claws. Ash clouded around both of them as they moved through the grass. Out of the corner of her eye Dawn could see spectating Pokemon watch as Charizard chased Paul. When he tried to return it to its Poke Ball, its tail whipped it out of his hand. The force of the impact snapped the capsule in two; both pieces went flying into the trees into some bushes. With the Poke Ball broken, Topaz no longer belonged to Paul.

Freedom didn't stop Topaz. It continued to attack, not paying any mind as Tobasu and Dawn began to cross the field. It wasn't even fazed when Dawn grabbed one of its arms, Tobasu the other. Topaz roared in agitation as it pulled against them, almost throwing Dawn to the ground. "Topaz, stop!"

Dawn continued to scream as her friend resisted. The Charizard was pulling so hard that for a moment she thought she'd lose her hold on it. For a split second she thought she had, but she managed to tighten her fingers around its forearms in a sweaty grip. WIth that split second of weakness Topaz was able to grab Paul by his shirtfront. Again, Topaz gave a deep bellow, continuing to pull as it let out all its frustration and anger from the past few days. Its body vibrated with the intensity of its emotional, thundering voice. Slowly began to calm, but Dawn and Tobasu could feel the Charizard still tremble as its roar died out. Something was wrong though. Even though Topaz had grown silent the sound of the roar continued. Everyone grew still as they listened. The sound stretched on, echoing over the trees from wherever its owner was located. As it died out everything grew quiet. Then the footsteps began.

Far away at first, the sound was similar to what Golen and other Rock Pokemon did to mark their territory for others to know. They would take large rocks and push them off nearby mountain faces, the rocks cracking against the craggy surface on the way down into the trees below. The two sounds were so close, but the footsteps gave off a deeper rumble. Slowly, they grew louder and closer together, as if the thing were picking up speed as it grew closer. Somewhere across the treeline Dawn noticed different bird Pokemon fleeing from their roosts in droves, fear echoing in their calls as they flew away from whatever danger had spooked them. It wasn't long before the ground beneath all of their feet began to shake in time with the footsteps. Ash puffed into clouds for each one as they grew closer.

Finally, one of them managed to gather their wits and return to their senses. Blinking his eyes to clear the confusion, Paul looked at everyone else as he fixed his shirt. Topaz had released him, having moved one arm in front of Tobasu, as if pushing it back, the other wrapped around Dawn protectively. Briefly he thought of how much the Charizard was willing to keep its friends from danger. The only feeling the Charizard had shown him since its capture was stubbornness and indignation. The irony was not lost on him.

Dawn was holding the Charizard's arms meekly, her attention riveted to the booming steps as they continued in their direction. Given the rate of the speed and the amount of ground the thing was covering, Paul supposed they had a few minutes or so before it reached them in the field. Since they were in the middle of its path, they were sitting Duckletts way out in the open with broad daylight shining down on them.

He decided to take action. Two minutes wasn't the perfect amount of time to find a place to hide, but it was better than none. If both dragons were willing they could probably fly off to the safety of the town. But what if whatever it was that was rampaging through the trees somehow made its way into their neighborhood and found its way to the larger area where the suburbs and shops were located? That wasn't his main problem at the moment. He hated to admit it, but his top priority was getting that troublesome girl out of there before she got hurt and somehow found a way to blame it on him.

"We need to leave," he said, breaking the silence. His voice startled Dawn slightly; Topaz just ignored him, pulling her beneath its wings to put a barrier between the two of them. The Charizard's blatant disregard of his works irritated him somewhat, but he let it pass. If it wouldn't listen to him he'd have to make it understand forcefully. Pushing Topaz's wing out of the way, he tried to grab Dawn's arm, but Topaz swiped at him to keep him away. It pulled its wings back around Dawn, even when she began to protest.

"This is no time to argue with me, you stupid lizard. Either we leave this field or we risk the chance of whatever that thing is finding us." He threw an arm out in the direction of the pounding steps, his frown deepening as he returned Topaz's glare. "Do you want the girl to be in that kind of danger?"

Tension hung so thickly in the air it was almost palpable on Dawn's tongue. Beneath Topaz's wing, she looked up at her friend as it deliberated. It ground its teeth as it thought, the sound spine-chilling. It was a few moments before it seemed to come to a decision—with an audible flap of its wings, it released Dawn, pushing her toward Paul. Falling forward into his arms, Dawn lost her breath for a moment when she landed against his chest. When she managed to catch it again, she found that she couldn't move. Paul had grasped her arms tightly to keep her stationary; when she looked up she saw why.

Lumbering toward the treeline was Topaz. The air around its mouth began to swirl hotly as fire began to swirl deep within its maw. "Topaz, what are you doing?" Struggling got her nowhere, but she tried anyway. Why was Topaz going toward the trees? It knew that something was stomping their way, why put itself in harm's way? Fear began to cloud her vision as she turned to look at Paul, then back to Topaz as the distance between them continued to grow. _What's going on?_ "Topaz, stop. We have to go."

But the Charizard ignored her as it continued toward the tree line. The canopy of leaves above it were shaking violently; it was so close that the ash clouds at their feet grew taller, blowing away on the breeze. Particles that stuck to her face made her eyes tear up, Topaz's form becoming blurry. Dread fell over her as Paul began to make their way in the opposite direction, pulling her when she resisted. Why did she have to leave her friend? She wanted to stay with Topaz.

"Topaz!" she screamed, but her voice was lost when the trees on Topaz's side of the clearing crashed to the ground, their roots torn violently from the soil. Limbs and leaves went flying in every direction, dirk sprinkling like ash from the sky. The sounds of the forest being destroyed was almost too overwhelming for Dawn as Paul continued to drag her away. The wind suddenly picked up, carrying some of the thicker limbs their way. Neither of them noticed until the last second, and without thinking, Paul jumped in front of them, shielding Dawn from the onslaught of broken wood. He flinched as one branch landed hard against his shoulder, but he grimaced as he pushed away the pain. It was still visible on his face, though; Dawn could see it slightly in his eyes as they clouded for a moment. "Paul?" she called softly, her voice wavering slightly.

Immediately his eyes closed, just as they had earlier. He was cutting her off again, but after a few seconds he was back. Glancing over his shoulder, Paul wrapped an arm tightly around Dawn's shoulders. It hadn't fully registered before that he was touching her, there'd been too much going on to notice something so small. But now, as his hand clasped her shoulder, she could feel her face slowly begin to turn red. _He was actually touching her and she'd just realized it_.

No, no, this wasn't the time to be doing this. To scramble any distracting thoughts, she shook her head. It didn't help very much, but it worked for the moment. They continued toward the trees, the shadows cast by the sun above falling over them before the trees themselves. For some reason, some wild Pokemon still lingered in the area. Those who were brave enough poked their heads from beneath bushes; wild Ratata and Zigzagoon rushed from tree trunks into the underbrush, crossing their path multiple times. Some Wurmple peered down at them from above as Paul stopped to quickly check his shoulder. His jacket wasn't ripped, but the shirt and skin beneath it was. Dawn saw a small gash had been made from the impact of the limb hitting him moments ago. Beneath it there was an older, healed scar, so close in color to his tanned skin tone that she almost didn't see it. Before she could ask him about it he pulled his jacket back over his shoulder, grabbing Dawn's hand so they could keep moving.

What was that scar? she wondered idly as they ran, dodging hidden roots beneath the leafy forest floor. It wasn't the only thing she'd noticed. Not once had he spoken directly toward her, nor had he even really looked at her since their battle had been hastily ended. If he was treating her coldly—at least, that's how she saw it—then why would her protect her at the cost of his own well being? He'd thrown himself in front of her to shield her, the least he could do was answer her when she said his name. _Why am I still overthinking thing?_ It was hard, but she managed to push away any confused feelings.

There was another crash behind them, then a deep, guttural roar. She'd forgotten that since they'd began to run before the thing had made it to the clearing, she'd never gotten a chance to see what had been making such large amounts of damage and noise. Falling victim to a moment of weakness and curiosity, she turned her head to glance behind her.

Horror filled her at what she saw.

Clouds of ash obscured the scene back in the field, but she was still able to make out Topaz's form. It was closer to their side of trees now, firing a Flamethrower at something. When the wind blew most of the cloud away, she could see what looked like . . . a dinosaur? It was something she'd never seen before; she wasn't even sure if it was a Pokemon. It walked on muscular hind legs, its back hunched slightly as it leaned forward. Somewhat-short arms hung over a scaly white belly. Claws took place of what would have been fingers on anything else.

Dawn took in all the thing's features slowly, her distraction from running slowing them down. The most prominent features made her blood freeze in her veins: the crown-shaped horns that adorned its forehead and above its eyes; the sharp, jagged teeth that snapped every time it closed its mouth; the spiked tail that was swinging around it defense. The monster was slashing at Topaz as the Charizard took to the air, firing another Flamethrower at the massive beast. Above it there was a flicker of groom that zoomed past Topaz, then the bright flash of Hyper Beam that crashed into the monster's upper back.

_Tobasu_.

Dawn's Flygon was taking part in the melee that had begun in the field.

"Tobasu, no! What are you doing?" she cried, pulling away from Paul. The sudden jerk caught him off guard, causing him to lose his grip on her hand and allowing her to become free. Stumbling slightly, roots hidden under leaves caused her to trip as she broke into a wobbly run back in the direction of the field. The only thing she could do besides run and keep her balance was cry her Pokemon's name. How could she have not noticed that her Flygon hadn't been behind her as they'd been running away? Why didn't it follow them? Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she rubbed them away. Her vision was necessary to make it through the shadowy path. If she couldn't see she might trip and fall on her face. Any wild Pokemon she'd seen on their way through were gone, hiding away in their hollows and holes.

As she grew closer to the clearing, the sounds of battle became louder: crashing tree limbs, blazing fire, piercing cries. It was almost too much for the blunette, but she knew she couldn't stop. Once she'd emerged from the trees and reached the edge of the clearing, she was able to see the entirety of what was happening. The monster was still snapping at Topaz as the Charizard flew in circles around its head. It was keeping it distracted while Tobasu attempted to attack again, but the monster swung its spiny tail at the Flygon in enraged defense, causing it to veer away and miss. Instead of its head, the DragonBreath it had been aiming landed on the feathery mane that lined the beast's neck. It singed it immensely, a blue flame lighting it on fire. This seemed to infuriate the monster, its eyes lighting with a dangerous fire. Dawn only noticed this before she shielded her eyes when Tobasu fired a Hyper Beam.

The monster screamed, the earth shaking with its mighty roar. Topaz and Tobasu had angered it; its eyes were almost glowing as it ducked out of the way of the Flygon's attack. The Hyper Beam passed right over it, crashing into the tree whose limb had almost taken out Dawn's head once. It blasted the tree into bits, pieces of bark and flaming twigs flying everywhere. Some of the small flames caught on the dry, already burned grass, a fire spreading quickly across the clearing.

The beast used its momentum to propel itself forward and to the right, aiming for Tobasu as it hovered above. The Flygon saw it coming, but it wasn't able to twist away in time. The monster's hard head bashed into its side, and even though she stood about twenty or so yards away, Dawn swore she could hear a sickening _crack_. The impact sent Tobasu flying away into the trees, the wind and consciousness knocked out of it.

"_Tobasu!"_ Dawn screamed. It was impossible to tell where her Flygon might have landed, and it was too dangerous for her to cross the field to go and search for it. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees, ash sticking to the legs of her jeans and hands. There was nothing she could do, no way for her to help. She was just a small human, nothing special about her.

At the same time as her scream, Topaz gave an ear-piercing howl. Anger made the flame on the tip of its tail flare dangerously high. Instead of its normal glowing orange and red, it burned a piercing white. Murder shown in Topaz's eyes as it snapped its wings wide open. Fire began to fill its mouth, as if it were going to attack with a Flamethrower once more. This fire was different though. Flames engulfed the inside of Topaz's mouth, covering its teeth entirely. Some leaked from the corners of its mouth, but it didn't let any of it go to waste. Without warning, it set its wings behind its back, dive bombing straight for the monster.

Dawn couldn't watch. She covered her face with her dirty hands, trying to block out the sound of Topaz's fangs connecting with the beast's skin, and the the scream that followed it. She wanted to be somewhere else. She wanted to be home, curled up on the couch with Glammy resting at her feet while she nuzzled her kittens. She wanted Tobasu and Piplup to be sitting on the floor playing a game that they created and could only understand. She wanted her sweet Topaz back, the Charizard she'd never seen attack another living being so fiercely. And it was all for her.

Crashing sounded behind her as Paul broke through some low-hanging branches. Low curses reached Dawn's ears, but she ignored it all. She wanted to forget everything, didn't want to see or hear anything. She was dragged from her oblivion by Paul's rough voice.

"You stupid girl, we need to get out of here!" He grabbed her shoulder and tried to make her stand, but she pulled away from him. "Do you not see what's going on? We were trying to avoid this thing, that's why we were running!" Still she struggled against him. Fed up with her defiance, he snatched one of her arms, tugging her from the ground and forcefully pulling her over his shoulder like a rag doll. "If you're not going to listen to me, then you don't have the option of walking anymore. We're getting out of here whether you like it or not."

"No!" she screamed. She struggled against him even more than before, trying to wiggle out of his grip. She kicked and clawed, but he refused to let her go. "Let me go!" Her foot connected with his rib cage, forcing a painful grunt from him. He ignored it, managing to wobble away as she continued to push at him. She screamed at him, cursed him; she became a Dawn nobody had ever seen before, the only witness a disgruntled teen who was trying to get them out of there.

"We're getting away from this place and that's final," he growled, jostling her as he ducked under a branch. The leaves raked across her back, dragging her shirt almost to her shoulders. She was at such an awkward angle that she almost couldn't stop it from being completely pulled off. "This place has been nothing but bad luck since I moved here."

As he walked, he tightened his grip on her. His nails dug into the side of her leg where he held them down, the other squeezing her wrist almost painfully to keep her from swinging at him again. Behind them the shadows were taking over as the sun was blotted out by clouds. Flames were still visible through the dense foliage though. All Dawn could do as she was carried away was watch as rain began to fall, slowly putting out the fire that had been spreading.

Tears filled her eyes again. She couldn't hear Topaz or the monster anymore, the rain around them was drowning every other sound out. Water dripped from somewhere above, mixing with her tears. Hiccuping, she pressed her face against the back of Paul's shoulder. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Paul had just leaned his head against her side as she began to cry. His hold on her wrist eased up. Blood rushed through her veins and arteries, her pulse throbbing as feeling came back to her hand. He ultimately released her, and she brought her stinging hand to her face. Crossing her arms, she pressed them against Paul's shoulder and rested her forehead against them. She resumed crying, wailing without abandon their entire dreary walk back toward town.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I had to do a looooooot of research for this. To be honest, I'm not sure why I let this take such a dark turn. But, then again I've been writing this off and on since, like, 2011. Pretty sure it's varied from what I originally imagined. Oh well. I have a pretty good idea of how I want it to end, just gotta make it through! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. _Ciao!_


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